Michael Jackson’s final This Is It tour encompassed much more than 50 concerts in London.
Choreographer Kenny Ortega said Jackson had plans to take the O2 Arena tour of the UK around the world over a period of three years.
Ortega’s documentary of the same name has brought high acclaim in just 24 hours since opening, earning more than US$2.2 million on its first day in the US.
Ortega said Jackson talked a lot about a world tour that would have included Australia.
“We would just be hanging out on a rest break and sitting in the dressing room and he would say ‘Kenny, have you ever been to India?’ I would say, ‘No, I really want to go to India so badly. I haven’t been.’ He’d say, ‘You must. You must. When I take the show to India whatever you are doing you have to stop and come back and join the tour.’ He’d say, ‘What about Japan?’ I’d say, ‘Yes of course. I love Japan. I want to go to Japan.’ He’d say, ‘What about Africa?’ I’d say, ‘Yes, Africa’.”
Ortega said: “I realised he wanted the world. He wanted to take this all over the world.”
As reported last month, even though U2 had been selling out concerts, the band has yet to make any profits due to the high cost of production. According to projections, U2 won’t break even until they’re done with the North American leg of their tour this month. The group is now trying to break even with the tour by adding more dates. They will make their return to North America when they perform at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium on June 6th net year. The band will end with their European tour next October, performing their final show in Portugal. Good luck getting tickets though because they are selling out fast!
An official Susan Boyle tour of her hometown may be in the pipeline.
A councillor in Blackburn has said they are thinking about organising tours of the town.
Councillor Martyn Day said: “We have noticed there is a huge volume of interest in Blackburn, in Susan Boyle and the surrounding areas. Without a doubt there certainly are people coming to the area.”
He added: “If there’s a genuine demand, which there appears to be, perhaps we have to look at that. Susan Boyle has put Blackburn on the global map.”
The 47-year-old singer rose to fame on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent.
Due to a diagnosed ear infection, Pussycat Dolls lead singer Nicole Scherzinger is unable to travel or to perform, forcing the rest of the group to cancel the first three shows of their upcoming tour with the Black Eyed Peas. I’m sure the other girls aren’t thrilled. I guess the people in charge don’t think that any of the other girls are good enough to fill in for Nicole. But what’s this? Pussycat Dolls’ management recently released a statement saying that the group wasn’t even asked to tour with the BEPs, Nicole doesn’t have an ear infection and that she’s in Europe on holiday. Just cut to the chase. I don’t think we’ll be seeing more of the Dolls anytime soon or ever again.
Her album was recently pushed back, all her appearances have been cancelled, and now, it seems that Mariah Carey’s Las Vegas show won’t be going down either. Apparently, the singer’s Sin City gig isn’t stirring up as much buzz as everyone had hoped. Tickets are still available for her opening night at the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort where her residency was supposed to begin this September. The theater only has a capacity of 2,500. Good seats are still available. I guess Mariah isn’t as popular now as they claim her to be. It looks like her career is on its way out.
Michael Jackson’s parents have hired private investigators to probe the death of the pop king.
Despite a multi-agency probe mounted by US authorities, the Jacksons are clearly seeking answers of their own.
Katherine, 79, and Joe, 80, are considering wrongful death lawsuits, according to an exclusive report.
But the focus of the Jacksons’ concern appears more and more to be AEG, the tour promoter for Jackson’s last 50 concerts set to play out in the UK.
Joe maintains Jackson wanted to do ten shows only, not 50. As court hearings into Jackson’s estate unfold, Katherine’s lawyers are poring over the AEG paperwork.
They have refused to sign an agreement barring use of the contract in legal proceedings. Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray, under suspicion in the manslaughter probe, was employed by AEG on £90,000 a month.
A source said: “Joe has been obsessed with AEG’s role from the start and wanted to see the contract. Joe didn’t trust them and told Michael. He is adamant he only agreed or wanted to do ten shows and was pressured into doing more.”
Michael Jackson had made it clear he would not agree to his London comeback shows unless controversial doctor Conrad Murray traveled with him.
The superstar so trusted Dr Murray – currently wanted for interviews by L.A. officials probing Jacko’s death – he wanted him with him at all times.
And he made it clear he wanted Dr Murray and not London’s finest medical minds to be with him when he finally came to Britain.
Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG LIVE, said it was “almost a contractual condition” that Jackson have Dr. Murray at his side.
AEG officials told Jackson that “some of the best doctors in the world are in London” and that it “would make sense” to have those on call.
But Phillips said Jackson “insisted emphatically” on Murray and said that the doctor was prepared to go on sabbatical from his practice.
And to keep Jackson happy Phillips says AEG was preparing to advance Murray a “significant” amount of money to be with Jackson in London, with the plan to have traveled next week and stayed through next March
“Michael told me personally that he trusted this man,” Phillips said.
It was unclear how long Murray had been Jackson’s physician. Tohme Tohme, a family spokesman, said Murray had been in the position for about a year, but Phillips said he understood the relationship had been going on about three years. Tohme Tohme says the doctor had been summoned to actually live with Jackson about two weeks ago.
Phillips said Murray, who tried to resuscitate the fading Jackson inside his Bel Air home, was at the hospital when he arrived.
“He was there, very distraught all day. I saw him,” he said. “He could barely talk.”
Murray spoke briefly with investigators at UCLA Medical Center on Thursday and cops later impounded the silver BMW he had been using in search of clues leading to Jackson’s perplexing death.
Rumors have been running rampant about a Pussycat Dolls split but nothing has come for it. After a not so stellar Australian tour, the end might finally come. It’s no surprise that many of the girls hate lead singer Nicole Scherzinger for constant spotlight-hogging and taking separate projects from the group. But now, original Doll Melody Thornton clears up the air in general about the group saying “It’s good news for our fans. I don’t think we’re breaking up any time soon. As long as this thing is moving, we’re all still here…(The reviews) say a lot about the need for an evolution within the Pussycat Dolls.” When asked about Nicole, Melody said “Nicole’s always had extra things going on as opposed to the rest of us, but we have aspirations as well. It’s definitely a huge misconception that we are just chilling and happy to just be members of the group.” They should just kick Nicole out.
According to the London Paper, Beyonce recently had a bit of a scare during the after-party for the London stop of her ‘I Am…’ tour when a fan managed to infiltrate security and get backstage. A witness said “A man barged through the backstage door just as Beyonce was walking past. He cried out her name with his arms outstretched before security bundled him back out again. He said he wanted [just] to see Jay-Z to give him a demo tape.” The crazy things people do when they want to get famous. Oh well, the guy just got his few minutes of fame with this one.
The band that is currently opening for Oasis’ tour this Summer in the UK wants the headlining of the concerts to be the other way around. The Enemy’s front man, Tom Clarke, expressed the band’s point of view: “I don’t think Noel needs to do it any more. He’s doing it for the love of it. That’s the dream. That’s when you can say you’ve made it.” And of course, when the bigger band’s guitarist is doing it all just because he loves it, then it means The Enemy should be headlining. Interesting theory on Tom Clarke’s behalf… I can’t wait to hear what Oasis has to say about it, especially considering Liam Gallagher’s extraordinarily patient and understanding nature.
It would be an understatement if you would call Britney Spears’ concert at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut a hot mess. Not only did the recovered pop star fall while dancing during her song ‘Get Naked’ but one overzealous and mighty disrespectful fan also rushed the stage during the encore. A concertgoer said “This guy ran across the stage and towards Britney during ‘Womanizer’. He attempted to dance with Britney.” The singer did not find it amusing though and her dancers quickly got the fan off the stage where he was promptly detained and later arrested. The guy was later released on a $250 bail.
Aerosmith has recently announced plans to play a free concert for 8300 fans in Maui. But this is not exactly a handout because those fans were the ones that got burned after the band cancelled a 2007 show that didn’t give any refunds. Aerosmith cancelled the show after they got tapped to perform for some big wig executive. The angered fans tried to sue the group for lost costs but it seems that all will be forgiven if the concert, which is scheduled to take place in the fall after Aerosmith’s North American tour, takes place this time. Here’s to hoping no corporate luncheon happens at the same date.
GREEN DAY LAUNCH FIRST NORTH AMERICAN TOUR IN OVER THREE YEARS!
MULTI-PLATINUM BAND HIT THE ROAD IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM, 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN, TO BE RELEASED WORLDWIDE ON FRIDAY, MAY 15TH, 2009
April 20, 2009 — Burbank, CA — Reprise Records’ Grammy®Award winning rock band Green Day have announced that they will hit the road for their first proper tour of the United States and Canada in more than three years beginning July 3rd in Seattle, WA. The first leg of the tour will cross North America through the summer and finish up with two shows in Los Angeles on August 26th.
Green Day are touring in support of their long-awaited eighth studio album 21st Century Breakdown, which will be released globally by Reprise Records on Friday, May 15th, 2009. Singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool have been at work writing, arranging, and recording 21st Century Breakdown since early 2006 with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins). The first single, “Know Your Enemy” was released to radio and digital retailers on April 16th.
Green Day recently performed 21st Century Breakdown in its entirety during a series of warm-up club shows for hometown fans in the Bay Area. In its review of a show at Oakland’s Fox Theater, Rolling Stone commented that the band, augmented by guitarists Jason White and Jeff Matika, and keyboardist Jason Freese, had the “Quadrophenia-like hang of 21st Century Breakdown’s classic rock melodies and lifetime-punk drive down solid” and that the album is “rock opera in which the rock always comes first.” “21st Century Breakdown is Green Day’s best album,” the reviewer concluded, “and at the Fox, they proved that the rock opera can be as punk as a Clash 45.”
21st Century Breakdown is Green Day’s first studio album since 2004’s two-time Grammy Award-winning punk-rock opera American Idiot, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, and went on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide.
Green Day’s upcoming North American tour dates are as follows:
July
3rd Seattle, WA
4th Vancouver, BC
6th Edmonton, AB
7th Saskatoon, SAS
9th Winnipeg, MAN
10th Fargo, ND
11th Minneapolis, MN
13th Chicago, IL
14th Detroit, MI
16th Hamilton, ONT
17th Ottawa, ONT
18th Montreal, QUE
20th Boston, MA
21st Philadelphia, PA
22nd Pittsburgh, PA
24th Hartford, CT
25th Albany, NT
27th New York, NY
29th Washington, DC
31st Nashville, TN
August
1st Atlanta, GA
3rd Tampa, FL
4th Miami, FL
5th Orlando, FL
7th New Orleans, LA
8th Houston, TX
9th San Antonio, TX
11th St. Louis, MO
13th Omaha, NE
15th Denver, CO
16th Salt Lake City, UT
18th San Jose, CA
20th San Diego, CA
21st Las Vegas, NV
22nd Phoenix, AX
24th Sacramento, CA
25th Los Angeles, CA
The famous pop singer’s tour isn’t progressing too well. Apparently, while performing in San Jose, California, after forty minutes of singing, Britney Spears said: “What’s up Sacramento?” Britney Spears had supposedly played in Sacramento a night before so maybe it’s not that big a mistake, but maybe it is a sign for the tour’s organizers to mellow it down a bit. But then again, maybe it’s also the fact that Britney Spears and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, have been getting exceedingly close to each other again, as a source relates: “It’s like they’re newlyweds all over again. Britney and Kevin can’t keep their hands off each other.” Britney Spears’ father is probably going to be acting on this one in a heart beat… and it won’t be a pleasant reaction.
Single File Join Alkaline Trio, Unveil Girlfriends
Single File rock, and their new website is here to prove just that! The brand new site, SingleFileRock.com, was launched along with news that the band is set to rock the stage with Alkaline Trio and Saves The Day for a string of dates in late April and the early days of May leading into the famed Bamboozle fest on May 3rd.
The rock continues on for Single File as they release Common Struggles, their major label debut, on April 7th. The album, produced by Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects, Less Than Jake) features the quirky pop-rock track “Mannequin Loveseat” as well as the just released album single “Girlfriends.” The new single is sure to be a hit as it channels the likes of Weezer, Plain White T’s and all that’s right with modern pop-rock.
Tour dates with Plain White T’s:
3/12 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
3/14 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
3/15 Grand Rapids, MI Intersection
3/16 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
3/17 Milwaukee, WI The Eagles Club
3/18 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
4/3 Denver, CO Gothic Theater *headlining
4/5 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre
4/8 Mission, TX Las Palmas Race Track
4/9 Houston, TX Numbers
4/10 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
4/11 Dallas, TX House of Blues
4/13 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
4/15 Norfolk, VA NorVa
4/16 Lawrenceville, GA Rider College – FREE SHOW
4/17 New York, NY Blender Theatre @ Gramercy
4/18 Newport, RI Salve Regina University
4/19 Allentown, PA Muhlenberg College
4/21 Terre Haute, IN Indiana State University
5/7 Louisville, KY Headliner’s Music Hall
5/8 Chicago, IL Metro
Tour Dates with Alkaline Trio and Saves the Day
4/28 New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
4/29 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Zoo
4/30 Philadelphia, PA – The Trocadero
5/1 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
5/2 New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
Kate Voegele has just announced that she will be going on tour! Check out dates below and save the date to catch Kate in a town near you. Visit KateVoegele.com to grab tickets.
Also, check out part 2 of the One Tree Hill songstress at the photo shoot for her new album A Fine Mess due out in May.
University of Phoenix Presents: Kate Voegele’s Lift Me UP Tour
4/24 Salt Lake City, UT – Club Sound
4/25 Denver, CO – Marquis
4/27 Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
4/28 Omaha, NE – Sokol Underground
4/29 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity
5/1 Chicago, IL – Park West
5/2 Milwaukee, WI – Rave Bar
5/3 Pontiac, MI – Eagle Theatre
5/5 Toronto, ON – Mod Club
5/6 Cleveland, OH – HOB Cambridge
5/7 Cincinnati, OH – 20th Century
5/8 Columbus, OH – The Basement
5/9 Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theatre
5/11 New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
5/12 Boston, MA – Paradise
5/13 New York, NY – Highline
5/15 S Hackensack, NJ – School of Rock
5/16 Philadelphia, PA – The Note
5/17 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
5/19 Nashville, TN – Rutledge
5/20 Atlanta, GA – The Loft
5/22 Orlando, FL – The Social
5/23 Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits
5/24 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
5/28 New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
5/29 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
5/30 San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
5/31 Dallas, TX – The Loft
6/2 Phoenix, AZ – Promotion
6/3 Phoenix, AZ – Martini Ranch
6/4 San Diego, CA – Soma Sidestage
6/5 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey
6/6 Orangevale, CA – The Boardwalk
6/7 San Francisco, CA – Slims
6/8 San Francisco, CA – Promotion
6/10 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
6/11 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
6/24 Bessemer, AL – Alabama Adventure
Michael Jackson held a press conference to announce his comeback tour at O2 Arena in London, England this past Thursday. The 50-year old dethroned King of Pop will do approximately 20 shows in London’s O2 Arena. His string of shows will kick off in the beginning of July. A new album is also reported to be in the works for Jacko. It’s about time he does some work! I was beginning to really wonder where he gets his money after all the legal fees he had to pay. However, I also wonder if he can pull of the shows considering it’s been reported that he’s not in the best of health.
MULTI PLATINUM-SELLING ARTIST, THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS ANNOUNCE THE I WANNA ROCK TOUR
THE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR KICKS OFF APRIL 5 IN ALBUQUERQUE
First Single, “Gives You Hell” is #1 on Top 40 radio
The All-American Rejects return to the road this spring for the I Wanna Rock tour in support of their latest DGC/Interscope/Doghouse release, When The World Comes Down. The month long tour commences April 5 in Albuquerque with support from Shiny Toy Guns, Ace Enders & A Million Different People, Vedera and The Upwelling.
“The I Wanna Rock Tour is going to be up close and personal. We hope this is the tour Rejects fans will brag about seeing for years to come!” says Tyson Ritter.
When The World Comes Down is the long awaited follow up to The All-American Rejects RIAA double platinum sophomore release Move Along. The first single, “Gives You Hell” is #1 on Top 40 radio and is over 1.7 million in digital downloads.
Catch The All-American Rejects on the I WANNA ROCK tour:
4/5 Albuquerque, NM Kiva Auditorium
4/7 Tulsa, OK Brady Theatre
4/8 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
4/9 St. Louis, MO The Pagent
4/11 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom
4/13 Minneapolis, MN Myth
4/15 Chicago, IL Aragon Theatre
4/16 Rochester, MI /Oakland Univ Meadowbrook
4/17 Erie, PA Jenker Ctr / Penn State
4/18 Geneseo, NY Kuhl Gym / SUNY Geneseo
4/21 Montreal, QUE Club Soda
4/22 Toronto, ONT Phoenix Theatre
4/25 Towson, MD Burdick Field /Towson Univ
4/28 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
4/29 Columbus, OH Lifestyles Pavilion
5/1 Memphis, TN Beale St Festival
5/2 Birmingham, AL Schaeffer Center
5/6 El Paso, TX County Coliseum
Chris Cornell has announced that he will hit the road for a 2009 US tour to support his upcoming Timbaland produced album, Scream, which hits stores March 10th. The tour will kick off in Austin, TX on March 27th and continue through April 19th hitting major cities like Chicago, New York, and Boston. Check out Cornell’s MySpace page to hear tracks from his upcoming album and head over to his official site for more information regarding the tour and to read his personal blog. Tickets for the tour go on sale this coming Friday, February 13th.
Scream is out March 10th on Mosley Music/Interscope Records
March 27th in Austin, TX @ Stubbs Bar-B-Q
March 28th in Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
March 29th in Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
March 31st in New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
April 1st in Atlanta, GA @ CW Center Stage
April 3rd in Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
April 4th in Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
April 5th in Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
April 7th in New York, NY @ Webster Hall
April 8th in New York, NY @ Webster Hall
April 10th in Boston, MA @ House of Blues
April 11th in Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theatre
April 13th in Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
April 14th in Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theater
April 15th in Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue Theatre
April 17th in Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
April 18th in St Paul, MN @ MYTH
April 19th in Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theater
