Dead View

The Dead's Bob Weir and Phil Lesh were joined by touring bandmember Warren Haynes yesterday (March 30th) for their appearance on ABC's The View.

Weir explained that rather than let the 1995 death of bandleader Jerry Garcia sink in, he took solace in hitting the road and making music: "Well, that was a body-blow for sure. I, I know that I personally just went on the road and stayed on the road. That was my grieving process. Y'know, 'cause he was a dear, dear, friend a brother, all that kind of stuff. A loss like is tough to. . . So like I said I went on the road and stayed on the road. (Joy Behar): You just kept moving. (Bob Weir): Yeah."

The scaled down Dead performed one of Garcia's best-loved songs from the group's 1971 American Beauty album -- "Friend Of The Devil."

E-Who-Dead

Bruce Springsteen fans heaved a sigh of relief last week when Max Weinberg's temporary replacement took the stage with the band in Asbury Park for a handful of songs during their rehearsal shows. It eased things slightly that Weinberg's 18-year-old son Jay had already rocked Giants Stadium last summer during the "The Boss's" New Jersey run. By all accounts Jay had the chops to hold his own with the mighty E Street Band.

Max, who'll be missing some of the band's European dates due to scheduling conflicts with the new Conan O'Brien Tonight Show kickoff, recalled to Rolling Stone how Jay ended up with one of the most coveted gigs in all of rock: "(Bruce called) he wanted to talk to Jay. He said to him, 'Jay, this is Bruce. You may have heard I have a band. In that band I have the world's greatest drummer, who has a scheduling conflict. He gave me your name and number and suggested that I call you to see if you'd be interested in playing with me and the E Street Band.'"

Max added that, "The torch has been passed to a new generation, so to speak. Temporarily, I might add. Because I'm not giving up my job yet."
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Pete Townshend isn't making any promises, but when he wraps up his current writing cycle, there might be some new material perfectly suited for the Who.

Townshend, who's currently on tour with the band Down Under, told Australia's The Daily Telegraph that he doesn't try to pigeon hole his work into specific projects, explaining, "I don't write for something we call 'The Who,' with all its cumbersome history and theatrical stage songs. I just write music, or poems, or lyrics, or songs. If they work for Roger (Daltrey), or for me, we will record them. I may never manage to write such a song again, but as Endless Wire featured some of the most recent and least anthemic songs I've ever written. . . there's a good chance we'll find something when I'm done doing whatever I do in the summer of 2009."

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Bob Weir says that the Dead is hard at work getting the band in shape for their upcoming tour, and digging deep into its back catalogue for the band's first extended trek in five years.

Weir explained that they have been working on material(approximately 150 songs) that hasn't been performed live by the band since around the time of their Wake Of The Flood album...

Are you a Bob Dylan fan about to get married???

Well if you are consider this...

Bob Dylan's luxurious mansion and estate in the Highlands of Scotland is available for parties and weddings for as low as $3,000, according to twentyfourbit.com. The Edwardian mansion sits on 25 acres, and features "views of the Cairngorms mountain range" (with) 10 bedrooms, and two separate cottages -- which are also available to rent for about $600.

Dylan and his younger brother David Zimmerman purchased the property together back in 2006, and Dylan has reportedly spent very little time on the grounds.

Check out the mansion at theaultmorehouse.com.

Dylan will release his 33rd studio set Together Through Life on April 28th.

(U) 2 (Grateful) Big tours!

U2 has confirmed the opening acts and dates for the fall North American leg of the band's world stadium tour, according to Ticketnews.com. Muse, Snow Patrol, and Black Eyed Peas will support the Irish quartet on various stops along the tour route, which begins on September 12th in Chicago and now encompasses 16 cities. Tickets for the shows in Chicago, Toronto, Boston, and New York go on sale this coming Monday (March 30th) with the rest to be made available shortly.
Tickets for the European leg of the trek are selling in record time, with the 11 gigs put up for sale so far already sold out. Most sold out in under an hour, with second nights in Paris and London already scheduled.

The tour, which features an enormous solid steel stage set called "the Claw" and features the band playing in the round, kicks off on June 30th in Barcelona, Spain.

According to U2's manager, 85 percent of tickets for the tour cost under $95, with general admission floor tickets priced at $55 and at least 10,000 at each date set aside at $30 each.

U2 hits our area on September 24 at Giants Stadium!
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In an effort to curb outlandish scalpers' prices, the Dead are putting some of the better seats to their opening night gig of their upcoming tour up for auction to benefit charity. The Associated Press reported that tickets for third row, center-stage-right for the tour's opening show on April 12 in Greensboro, North Carolina are up for grabs with the online bidding starting at $250 at charityfolks.com.

The band hopes to raise $250,000 for such Dead-supported charities as the Rex Foundation for the arts; the Further Foundation, which works for environmental and social causes; the Unbroken Chain Foundation, which supports community service projects; and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is dedicated to protecting oceans and marine life.

Bob Weir explained why the charitable element is so important to the band: "Needless to say, like any charity these days, their revenues are down right now. They're hurting. We want to do what we can to keep these folks up and running and in business."

I couldn't come up with a clever tittle today

Crosby, Stills, & Nash have announced the first leg of their upcoming North American tour, which kicks off on June 3rd in St. Louis and wraps on June 14th in Boston. A second leg, running August through September, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Coinciding with the tour will be the release of Crosby, Stills, & Nash: Demos on June 2nd. The single-disc release features 1968 and 1969 demos of such group and solo classics as "Marrakesh Express," "My Love Is A Gentle Thing," "Almost Cut My Hair," "Chicago," "Long Time Gone," "Guinevere" and "Wooden Ships," among others.

• Crosby, Stills, & Nash tour dates (subject to change):
  June 3 - St. Louis, MO - Chaifetz Arena
  June 4 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavillion at Northerly Island
  June 6 - Rochester, MI - Meadow Brook Music Festival
  June 7 - Toledo, OH - Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre
  June 12 - Cooperstown, NY - Doubleday Field
  June 13 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Resort Casino
  June 14 -Boston, MA - Bank Of America Pavilion

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Following the recent success of John Mellencamp and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello has teamed up with producer T-Bone Burnett for the upcoming acoustic Americana album The Secret, The Profane, And Sugar Cane, according to Billboard. The album, which marks Costello's first collaboration with Burnett since 1989's Spike, will be his debut release for the Hear Music label.

Ten of the album's tracks are new Costello compositions, including two written with Burnett. One song, "I Felt The Chill," was co-written by Costello with Loretta Lynn, with two of the album's tracks -- "Hidden Same" and "Boom Chicka Boom" -- were originally written by Costello for Johnny Cash.

Boss rehearsals, Little Stevie sheds some light on rock and roll

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off the first of their two rehearsal shows at New Jersey's Asbury Park Convention Hall last night (March 23rd). According to fan reports, the band was augmented with two backup singers, Curtis King and Cindy Mizelle, who both toured with Springsteen in 2006 as part of the Seeger Sessions Band. Springsteen played a total of 24 songs, premiering six tracks from his new Working On A Dream album. Last night's gig also featured the E Street Band's debut performance of Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally."

Last night's Asbury Park setlist: "Outlaw Pete," "My Lucky Day,"
"Night," "Out In The Street," "Working On A Dream," "Johnny 99," "I Ain't Got No Home" (Woody Guthrie song); "Good Eye," "Radio Nowhere," "Candy's Room," "Because The Night," "Mary's Place," "The Wrestler," "This Life," "Long Walk Home," "Surprise, Surprise," "Badlands," and "No Surrender."

ENCORES: "Hard Times Come Again No More Again" (Stephen Foster song), "Mustang Sally" (Wilson Pickett song); "Thunder Road," "Born To Run," "American Land," and "Seven Nights To Rock" (Moon Mullican song)

Springsteen performs again tonight (March 24th) at the Convention Hall for the second E Street Band rehearsal show.

Backstreets.com reported that Springsteen hopped onstage Saturday night (March 21st) in Long Branch, New Jersey at the Ocean Palace Resort at a fundraiser for the Ranney School -- where his youngest children Jessica and Sam both attend.

Playing an off-white Fender Telecaster, "The Boss" joined house band the Panther Club and tore through a three-song set consisting of Wilson Pickett's "634-5789," and "Mustang Sally" before wrapping things up with the Isley Brothers' "Twist And Shout."

Steven Van Zandt was a guest speaker on Friday (March 20th) at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas and delivered a powerful lecture on the state of rock and roll.

Van Zandt spelled out the key problems regarding the continued growth of rock, saying in part: "Rock n' roll is the working class art form. Real rock n' roll . . . is equal opportunity, regardless of race, education or how much money you got, since the working class don't think too much about what is art and what is not. Mostly because they're too busy working. They spend their time on their craft, the practical useful stuff. So let's get back to basics for a moment, what is our craft?"

Van Zandt went on to say: "Rock n' roll had always been a two-part craft, performance and record-making, and that turned into a three-part craft for bands, when songwriting was added after the Beatles changed the world."

He went on to say, "The crisis in performance is, I believe, based on one simple fact. When it started, rock n' roll was dance music. One day we stopped dancing to it and started listening to it and it's been downhill ever since. We had a purpose . . . we made people dance or we did not work, we didn't not get paid, we were fired, we were homeless. That requires a very different energy. To compel people to get out of their chairs and dance, it's a working-class energy, not an artistic, intellectual, waiting-around-for-inspiration energy. It's a get-up, go-to-work-and-kill energy. Rip it up, or die trying."

To read Van Zandt's chat in full, log on to: blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/03/22/sxsw-day-three-little-steven-and-rocks-crisis-in-craft/

Quick hits to get your week started

CNN reports that Simon & Garfunkel may be kicking off their first tour in five years in June in Kiwiland, New Zealand. According to sources, the duo will begin rehearsals in May in New York City. It's believed that following the New Zealand shows, the pair will carry on with dates in Australia and Japan. None of the overseas dates have been officially announced, nor have any North American shows been mentioned.

Last month Simon & Garfunkel reunited for a three-song set in New York City during Paul Simon's concert marking the reopening of the Beacon Theatre.
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Bruce Springsteen issued a statement on his official website (brucespringsteen.net) shedding light on Max Weinberg's son Jay stepping in for his dad for a handful of E Street Band shows. Max is busy helping Conan O'Brien kick off his new stint as host of NBC's The Tonight Show.

The statement read in full: "In response to the many questions concerning the upcoming tour, the drummer on the small number of shows that Max Weinberg won't be able to appear at will be a brilliant young drummer from New Jersey named Jay Weinberg. Commenting on the situation, Bruce said: 'Once again, I want to express my appreciation to Conan O'Brian, and everyone on his team, for making it possible for Max to continue to do double duty for both us and for him. We promise to return him in one piece.'"

Boss adds two, Behind The Music returns!!!

Bruce Springsteen has announced two pre-tour rehearsal shows for Monday and Tuesday night (March 23rd and 24th) at the Asbury Park Convention Hall. Backstreets.com reported that tickets go on sale today (Friday, March 20th) at 12 noon ET through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone only. Tickets are $100 with a two-ticket limit.

Last night (March 19th) Springsteen appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and performed an acoustic version of the title track to his new album Working On A Dream.

Seemingly confirming rumors that Max Weinberg would be missing portions of the E Street Band's European tour due to commitments to Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show -- Weinberg's son, Jay Weinberg, was sitting in with the band on Monday and Tuesday's rehearsals at the Convention Hall, with his dad on hand. There has been no official word naming Jay Weinberg as his father's temporary replacement.
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Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland will star in a new episode of Behind The Music, the popular VH1 series that is being revived by the network three years after it stopped producing new installments. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 10 new episodes have been ordered by the channel, with Weiland and rapper Lil Wayne the only subjects confirmed so far. VH1 executive VP of original programming Jeff Olde said about the show's return, "It felt like the time is right. There's all sorts of new artists on the scene who have emerged and have these great stories. And there's other artists that we always wanted to do the first time around."
Behind The Music aired regularly between 1997 and 2002, with only a few new episodes produced until 2006.

Music News Update for Thursday...

New details are emerging about the May 3rd Pete Seeger 90th birthday celebration at New York's Madison Square Garden. Backstreets.com reported that despite earlier reports, Bob Dylan will not be participating. As previously reported, the lineup includes Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews, and Emmylou Harris -- along with new additions Ani DiFranco, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Bruce Cockburn, Michael Franti, Tom Chapin, and many more.
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An ambitious plan to license the music of Nirvana and its late singer/songwriter, Kurt Cobain, appears to have backfired, according to Portfolio.com. A company called Primary Wave Music Publishing bought a 50 percent stake in Cobain's catalog for a reported $50 million from his widow, Courtney Love, who was nearly out of money at the time. However, Primary Wave has had little success with placing Nirvana songs in TV commercials, video games and ad campaigns, with the company earning just slightly more than $2.3 million on its investment so far.

Love claimed to have had just $4,000 in her bank account three years ago when she made the deal with Primary Wave. Fans criticized Love for allowing Cobain's music to be used in the kind of commercial enterprises that he blasted up until his 1994 suicide.

Nirvana's rebellious stance and image could be one reason why the music has not been licensed more. Sony/ATV Music Publishing chairman and CEO Martin Bandier explained, "Nirvana was so revolutionary that it's very difficult to match different projects, and there are tons of iconic groups that allow their music to be utilized."

A source told Portfolio that one deal to license a number of Nirvana songs for a special episode of CSI: Miami, that would be written around the music, collapsed when Love, the publisher and former members of Nirvana asked for "twice the industry standard" in licensing fees, leading CBS-TV to back off.

Allman Bros. w/ Sheryl Crow on Can't Find My Way Home

Pretty awesome!!!

Check out this amazing guitar playing by John Butler

I just talked about this on the show... John Butler is one of the most amazing guitar players ever. Check out this clip... at the 2 minute mark, he really kicks it in to over drive.

Only bad thing is the music isn't exactly matched up with the video... that's cause Youtube sucks!

Enjoy!

Dylan's new album, McCartney's new record!

Bob Dylan will release his new studio album Together Through Life on April 28th. Dylan posted a new interview on his official website bobdylan.com, and explained that the legendary Chess and Sun Records 1950s singles shaped the sound of the new collection, saying, "I like the mood of those records -- the intensity. The sound is uncluttered. There's power and suspense. The whole vibration feels like it could be coming from inside your mind. It's alive. It's right there. 'Kind of sticks in your head like a toothache.'"

Although the album's final setlist has yet to be announced, last month Dylan previewed seven tracks to Columbia label heads in New York and London. Billboard reported that the tracks previewed were "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," "Life Is Hard," "My Wife's Hometown," "Forgetful Heart," "Shake Shake Mama," "I Feel A Change Coming On," and "It's All Good."

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Paul McCartney has set a new world record for his upcoming gig at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The former Beatle sold out all 4,000 seats for the show in only seven seconds. The Macca Report posted that tickets for the April 19th show at the new 4,000-set New Joint venue sold at a rate of about 600 seats per second.

The Hollywood Reporter posted that the new John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy will be distributed by The Weinstein Co., who has acquired the U.S., Latin American, and German distribution rights to the film.

Nowhere Boy focuses on Lennon's pre-teen family life, with Kristin Scott Thomas portraying Lennon's maternal aunt and guardian Mimi Smith. Nowhere Boy is due out next year.

Daltrey Makes a lot of sense, Re-working old U2, Remembering Alan Livingston

Roger Daltrey has taken a swipe against animal rights activists saying that cancer research should take precedence when it comes to charity. Daltrey, whose is a patron of Britain's Teenage Cancer Trust charity, told ITN.co.uk, "It is a blot on our society when, if these teenagers had four legs and fur or feathers we would raise the money in one year. It's tragic and it makes me want to fight even harder."

He explained that the British government is "no help whatsoever" for the teenage cancer patients, adding, "this charity is all they've got and we're fighting for every unit we get . . . Teenagers are the hardest age group to talk to and they tend to withdraw within themselves. . . . Cancer is the number one killer of teenagers and they get the most aggressive and the rarest forms, and because they're growing so fast and they're doing sports and things, late diagnosis is quite common."

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U2 singer Bono told a crowd in Somerville, Massachusetts that the band would like to re-record some of its early work, according to Reuters. Playing a private set of five songs for 950 fans and taking questions afterward, Bono said about the band's 1980 debut Boy, "I would love to sing that album again and finish that," adding that back in those days, they "couldn't afford another hour" in the studio. Bono also said about the band's first few records, "There's some beautiful songs that feel a little bit unfinished to us."

The vocalist did not indicate whether the Irish supergroup had any plans to actually undertake such a project.

Guitarist The Edge added to possible speculation about re-recordings when asked if there are any U2 songs he never wanted to play again, saying, "There are so many U2 songs that I am quite happy not to play. But the thing is we still want to rewrite some of them, and who knows, we may at some point re-release a few of our early albums with a few changes."
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Former Capitol Records president Alan Livingston, the man who signed the Beatles to their American label, died at 91 of age-related causes on Friday (March 13th) at his home in Beverly Hills, The Associated Press reports.

In 1963, despite heavy pressure from Capitol's parent company, the British owned EMI Records, Livingston originally passed on signing the Fab Four deeming their music unsuitable for the American market. Later that year, after rejecting the Beatles' first album Please Please Me -- along with their first four singles "Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," "From Me To You," and "She Loves You" -- Livingston finally signed the group for U.S. distribution and released their groundbreaking single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and their American album debut Meet The Beatles.

Meet The Beatles, which topped the album charts for 11 weeks, collected tracks from their second UK album With The Beatles along with assorted single tracks.

Beatles fans have long criticized Capitol for altering the group's British albums for their American release. Renowned Beatles author Bruce Spizer, who wrote the liner notes for the group's The Capitol Albums box sets, told us that the label has gotten a bad rap over the years when it comes to the Beatles' early '60s albums: "The old party line of 'Capitol butchered the Beatles' is really not true. Capitol marketed the Beatles, they had a feel of what would sell well in America and they knew that you needed hit singles on the albums to sell the albums. So, they would deliberately pull a song off to save it as a single such as 'Eight Days A Week,' or 'Nowhere Man.' And this was their strategy and it worked really well."

Alan Livingston began his career at Capitol in the creative department, writing and producing children's albums for the label, including creating the legendary "Bozo the Clown" character for the 1946 album Bozo At The Circus. During his tenure as head of Capitol, he signed such legendary acts as Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, the Steve Miller Band, Nat "King" Cole, Al Martino, among many others. Livingston is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter and a stepdaughter.

REM Trib, Police Wine, and Bruce in 3D

R.E.M. took the stage at their own tribute show Wednesday night (March 11th) at New York City's Carnegie Hall. According to Billboard.com, the band made a surprise performance at the concert, which featured 20 different artists doing songs from R.E.M.'s catalog. To close out the show, R.E.M. played "E-Bow The Letter" off 1996's New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Patti Smith joined Michael Stipe on vocals, while R.E.M's Peter Buck and Mike Mills played in the background.

Other performers included Marshall Crenshaw, Guster, Calexico, Bob Mould and others. The tribute show is part of a series that helps raise money for various organizations.
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Sting has plans to sell wine from his very own country estate in Tuscany, Italy. According to the Associated Press, the Police frontman plans to produce 30,000 bottles of wine which will go on sale in the United States and Britain. Although the name of the wine hasn't been revealed, it's expected to be a 2007 vintage based on the Sangiovese grape with hints of Cabernet and Merlot.

Sting bought the 16th-century villa in 1997 and has since turned about 860 acres of its acres into an organic farm that also produces honey, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and Tuscan salami. The 57-year-old singer says he initially just wanted to feed his family, explaining, "I also wanted to use agriculture with practices that would nourish the land and not deplete the land, and so we went to traditional methods with farming, we got rid of pesticides, we shunned mono culture, and it works. The farm is also a garden."

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Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band started tour rehearsals this week at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey. According to LiveDaily.com, Springsteen went over a batch of songs from the new Working On A Dream album, including the title track, "Outlaw Pete," "My Lucky Day," "What Love Can Do" and "This Life." Springsteen's tour launches April 1st in San Jose, California.

Meanwhile, director Bruce Hendricks, who produced 3D feature films for pop acts the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, is setting his sights on the Boss. He tells MTV.com he'd love to produce a 3D concert film starring Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, explaining, "I saw Springsteen at the Super Bowl. I'd love to do him....[I'd love to do it] in 3D. He'd be great." Hendricks hasn't approached Springsteen yet about his idea, adding, "But I think concert films in 3D are going to catch on, so we are going to see a lot of artists do them."

Nirvana's Novoselic

Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic told DailyWorld.com in a new interview that fans should not expect to hear any music from the band emerging from the vaults. But while previously unreleased music may be scarce, Novoselic added, "What there is, is video. There's a lot of video. There's not going to be any new Nirvana records." Novoselic was interviewed when he participated in an oral history for the Washington State Legacy Project, which is dedicated to profiling influential residents of the state who have helped shape its history.

• Novoselic did not indicate what kind of video footage is in the band's archives, nor did he say whether it will ever see the light of day.
• The last Nirvana studio song released was "You Know You're Right," issued in 2002 as part of a boxed set. The track's release was held up for years by a legal battle that pitted Novoselic and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl against Courtney Love, widow of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The tune was recorded in January of 1994, three months before Cobain committed suicide.
• Asked if he was now on good terms with Love, Novoselic said, "It's not bad terms."
• Nirvana was crucial in bringing mainstream attention to both the Seattle music scene and alternative music in general.
• The bassist told DailyWorld.com that he wished he had done more to stop Cobain from killing himself, saying, "There's regrets. I was angry. It's just a waste . . . Kurt called me the first time he did heroin and he told me he did it. And I told him, 'Don't do it man. You're playing with dynamite.'"
• Novoselic has continued a low-key music career since Nirvana's demise, playing in Eyes Adrift, Sweet 75 and punk act Flipper. He is also active in local Washington politics and has his own show on a community radio station.

Bruce Exhibit, Allmans kick of bacon... uh I mean Beacon

A special Bruce Springsteen exhibit will open at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio on April 1st. The display, called "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen," will include various memorabilia from the Boss, including the Fender Esquire guitar that appears on the cover of Born To Run, the outfit he wore on the cover of Born In The U.S.A., as well as handwritten lyric manuscripts, posters, handbills and various awards. The exhibit will be open through spring 2010. Springsteen's manager Jon Landau tells Billboard.com, "Once (Bruce) knew this was real, that it would really happen, he wanted it to have as much depth as it could possibly have. He is fully behind this exhibition and the effort the museum has made to really get things right." Landau says Springsteen will likely visit the exhibit after the official opening.
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The Allman Brothers Band kick off their "March Madness" run at New York City's Beacon Theater tonight (Monday, March 9th). This year, the band has extended the residency to 15 shows, wrapping on March 28th. The Allmans plan to bring on special guests, as well as perform some new material. Each three-hour concert will pay tribute to late lead singer Duane Allman, who died in 1971.

They were forced to cancel the annual concerts last year while Gregg Allman underwent difficult treatment for Hepatitis C. He tells us about coping with the side effects of the medication he had to take: "I've never done that. Had it not been a total emergency I wouldn't have done it this time, but I just flat couldn't make it. When you take this stuff, you might as well plan on staying home."

For the first time, the Allmans will be streaming the shows online at Moogis.com. There's a $125 fee to view the shows. Allman says he has recovered fully from Hepatitis C.

This year marks the band's 40th anniversary.

U2 Should Top, Beatles Are Officially a Rock Band

U2 is likely to land the seventh Number One album of its career when its newly released, 12th studio effort, No Line On The Horizon, debuts on the Billboard 200 chart next week. Early sales figures and industry tracking suggest that the disc could sell more than 400,000 copies in its first week on shelves. That's a far cry from the 840,000 copies moved by the band's last CD, 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, but still healthy enough in the current industry climate.

Billboard's sales tracking estimates were based on reports from seven retailers responsible for about 60 percent of all U.S. record sales, including Best Buy, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, and Target.
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The Beatles will have their own Rock Band video game. Due out September 9th, The Beatles: Rock Band will be available for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There's expected to be three releases this fall -- software featuring the Beatles' music; standalone guitars; and a limited edition package that will likely include the game and special instruments. According to a statement, the game will feature "an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of the Beatles." It will also included a limited number of "new peripherals" modeled after instruments used by the Beatles throughout their career. The game only will retail for $59.99, while a standalone guitar bundle will be priced at $99.99, and the limited edition premium bundle will sell for $249.99.

According to RollingStone.com, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison are in support of the game.

This will mark the first Rock Band game specifically branded to a specific music group.

Music News Updates!

U2 has revealed more details about its proposed follow-up to its just-released new album, No Line On The Horizon, in a new interview with Rolling Stone. Lead singer Bono told the magazine that the record, tentatively titled Songs Of Ascent, would be comprised of material that didn't fit onto the current release, calling it, "a sister release to No Line On The Horizon, a Zooropa to its Achtung Baby." He described the companion record as "a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflective piece of work, but not indulgent."

Bono added that a track called "Every Breaking Wave," which was left off No Line On The Horizon, should be the first single from Songs Of Ascent. The album could be released in 2010.
Rolling Stone also got a preview of tunes from Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the upcoming stage musical based on the comic book character for which Bono and U2 guitarist The Edge have written the songs. Bono said that if the music was released as an official U2 album, "It'll be a monster, 'cause it's the most accessible music we've probably ever written. It could be our Tommy. We could do it with guest stars and everything."

U2 will perform for the fourth straight night on Thursday's (March 5th) edition of CBS-TV's Late Show With David Letterman, where the band has taken up a weeklong residence.

In honor of the group's stay in New York this week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg temporarily renamed a portion of West 53rd Street "U2 Way."
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Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will headline a benefit show on April 4th at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The show, dubbed Charity Begins Within, will benefit the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Also on the bill will be Sheryl Crow, Donovan, Eddie Vedder, Moby, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Ben Harper. The upcoming gig marks the first time McCartney and Starr will perform together since a tribute show to the late George Harrison in 2002.The David Lynch Foundation teaches children how to meditate so they can better overcome stress and violence and promote peace and success in their lives. McCartney is a big supporter of the cause, saying, "In moments of madness, it has helped me find moments of serenity. I would like to think that it would help provide them a quiet haven in a not-so-quiet world." According to RollingStone.com, Starr added, "It gives me great pleasure to be part of this evening. I feel the aims of this charity are wonderful."

Tickets for the show go on sale March 9th via Ticketmaster.

My 2nd Christmas

March 4th is a pretty significant day in the life of your ol' pal Anthony... And believe it or not it has nothing to do with music... or food. I know, its shocking. But it actually comes from my third love. Hockey!

Today is the trading deadline in the National Hockey League and nothing is more exciting for me. Now you may be asking yourself why...

Well I'm a die hard Islanders fan. So there isn't much else for me to be excited about. And the new U2 record came out yesterday, so that excitement is over with. With nothing going on in the music world, my complete focus is on the NHL today.

I couldn't even explain to you why I love trades, but there is just something so exciting about seeing a player fight for one team, get moved and have to fight for another team. And it brings me and my friends together, texting and calling all day long to try and be the first person that hears of a deal and passes it on to everyone else.

So while you guys are working today, I'll be in front of a TV and the computer, scanning millions of websites to see not only what my favorite team is doing to improve itself but also to see the superstars of this wonderful game move their entire life to a new location.

Obviously if you're one of the many that visits this blog everyday you might think this is a weird post. Or that I'm the only one that goes this crazy over an insignificant event. Well check out Islanders Point Blank. Its a blog run by my former employer, Chris Botta, who was the GOD of the Public Relations department for the New York Islanders for a long time. There you'll find a rich community of Long Islanders, and people across the country that just thirst for information about their favorite team. And Chris, does an incredible job and delivering that information.

We will definitely return to music news tomorrow, and if anything breaks here today I'll be sure to post it as soon as it happens, but for today, while I've gotten you to read this far let me mention this as a closing argument.

I believe that we are in jeopardy of losing our only professional franchise here on Long Island. The Islanders need the Lighthouse Project to be approved desperately in order to keep them here. Even if you're not a fan of the Islanders or hockey, this still should appeal to you if you're a Long Islander. I'm a proud Long Islander and I don't want to see my only pro franchise leave because our local government was too stupid to let them go.

Please visit the Lighthouse Project website and pledge your support. It only takes two minutes.

Thanks guys and gals! As always, us passionate music fanatical Long Islanders must stick together!

And in closing, because I hate to lose ANY listeners.... Connecticut rules!

U2 dishes 12th Studio Album

U2 releases its 12th studio album on Today in the U.S., titled No Line On The Horizon. The disc is the band's first since 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and has already gathered a considerable amount of critical acclaim, with some reviews calling it the Irish group's best effort since 1991's Achtung Baby. Some rock critics, however, have said that lead singer Bono's work as a political and social activist interferes with the band's music. Washington Post critic J. Freedom du Lac wrote that the album was "at times magnificent," but added, "It's becoming increasingly difficult to hear U2's music without filtering it through your feelings about the other Bono, that strident, sanctimonious swirl of idealism, agenda and ego."

Bono has worked tirelessly to reduce poverty, hunger, and AIDS in Africa and other parts of the globe, and was even nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2005 for his efforts. U2 guitarist The Edge told us at the time that the band has never worried about Bono's activist efforts alienating its audience: "There are, I'm sure, people who'd rather that there were less direct references to politics in the show, or that Bono wouldn't end up on TV talking about his work for Africa, but we're fine with that, you know. We think that it's really important, and the small downside that comes with it is far outweighed in every respect by the positives."

Despite the critical concerns, No Line On The Horizon is likely to be one of the biggest albums of 2009. The disc was awarded five stars by Rolling Stone, four stars by Mojo magazine, and five stars by Q magazine, which argued that it could even be better than the landmark Achtung Baby.

No Line On The Horizon was produced by the band with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the same team responsible for 1984's The Unforgettable Fire and 1987's classic The Joshua Tree.

The quartet was scheduled to begin a week-long residency on CBS-TV's Late Show With David Letterman on Monday night (March 2nd), and also planned to play a special concert at New York's Fordham University on Friday (March 6th) for ABC's Good Morning America, with attendance limited to students at the school.

An intimate club show is also in the works for Boston on March 11th. The venue has not yet been revealed, but tickets for the gig will be given away by several radio stations in the area.

Full plans for a summer stadium tour are expected to be announced next week.

Bono also told Rolling Stone that U2 will release another album before the end of 2009 that will act as a "companion" to No Line On The Horizon. The disc, which the singer described as "more meditative and processional," could arrive in November.

Kind of sad, but is it true?

Pete Townshend says that the Who stopped being an active working band in 1982, and that for the past quarter century has been paying tribute to its glory days rather than topping them. Townshend spoke in depth about his thoughts on the current touring version of the Who during an interview with The New Zealand Listener, saying, "I used to be in a band called the Who. It does not exist today except in your dreams. I am a songwriter and guitarist who -- if I create the right setting -- can walk on to a stage with my old buddy Roger Daltrey and evoke the old magic of the Who in the dreams of the audience."

He added that the Who's core fan base understand that the deaths of cofounders Keith Moon and John Entwistle in 1978 and 2002, respectively, have in essence turned the band into its own tribute group: "I think the audience can appreciate that the old Who will never function again as they once did. Roger and I know how to do what we have always done, but we are much more conscious of the process now, the device of letting our audience live out their own wish while we play the old songs."