Michael Jackson’s 50-show run at London’s O2 Arena was set to be the highest grossing single concert engagement if it took place. The concert promoter, AEG Live, went all out on the production and may now be facing some serious financial problems. According to Billboard, AEG sold $85 million worth of tickets along with $30 million spent on spent on production and $10 given to the late singer as an advanced payment. They’re not sure whether nonappearance insurance will cover the unfortunate situation. If the King of Pop died from a drug overdose or a pre-existing condition, the producer will not get reimbursed and will be forced to refund 750,000 already purchased tickets.
Britney Spears’ handlers surprisingly let the recovered pop star out to have a night out in the town in London after finishing her first week of the UK leg of her ‘Circus’ tour. The singer dropped by Maddox night club this past weekend before calling it an early night and heading to bed. No fishnets, sunglasses at night, late convenient store stops or a pig wig involved in the whole matter, just a bunch of bodyguards and an utterly bored looking Britney. The times have seriously changed with this one folks. Let’s hope she stays in her non-crazy state for the sake of her kids.
Paul Oakenfold, the DJ who is supporting Madonna on her “Sticky and Sweet” tour recently stated that the star is not too hard to get in the proper mood. Paul Oakenfold said: “Planning my set for a Madonna show is tough because she covers the whole spectrum. It’s a white, black, gay, straight crowd, aged between 15 and 60. It’s no good making it too underground. Despite the big venues it’ll still be clubby and I’ll get the crowd going. And it doesn’t take much to get Madonna in the mood.” This is all fine and dandy, but still, get Madonna in the mood for what, more exactly? To get her in the mood for performing? I wasn’t aware that such a thing is a requirement for her live shows.
Bruce Springsteen recently announced that he and his “wrecking crew”, the E Street Band, will be the final musical act before Giant Stadium in New Jersey gets demolished after the 2009 football season. If you are a fan of Bruce, you know that he is going to tear that show up. The rock icon has sold out 16 shows at that stadium and 44 shows at the nearby Izod Center. Three shows have been scheduled for September 30, October 2 and October 3. Tickets for the shows will go on sale on June 1. I hope they’re not selling on Ticketmaster. They’ve been screwing up sales for Bruce a couple of times now.
Amy Winehouse was supposed to perform in St. Lucia last Friday but a heavy rainstorm brought the performance to a halt shortly into her set and ultimately forced Wino to postpone the gig. This was the singer’s first attempt at performing in 2009 and her rep says that she tried to continue through the rain but was forced to stop. There’s no word if she’ll reschedule. However, if her performance is anything like the one that she gave for a jazz fest this past weekend, I know that a lot of people are hoping that she just drop off the face of the earth. Wino’s performance was a train wreck! She sounded awful, stopped during the middle of the song and walked off stage!
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UK rock / drum’n'bass / hardcore / trance quartet Enter Shikari return to the USA for the first time since 2008’s Coachella to play four sets at this year’s South By Southwest in Austin, Texas.
The band can be found blowing minds and bursting ear drums at the following events
Thursday 19th March
2.15pm(-ish) – EMOS – Artery Foundation show (free entry… all ages. no badge / no wristband. first come first served)
5.15pm(-ish) – THE WAVE. 6th St – Kerrang / Guitar Hero party (rsvp for this one to Kerrangparty@xtaster.co.uk).
Saturday 21st March –
10pm – EMOS ANNEX (this is the band’s official SXSW showcase, so all the usual wristband / badge etc required)
1am @ PUREVOLUME HOUSE (rsvp for entry – http://www.purevolume.com/thehouse)
Enter Shikari have just completed work on the follow up to their debut album ‘Take To The Skies’ entitled ‘Common Dreads’.
‘Antwerpen’, a track from the forthcoming album, was released as a free download via the band’s website – www.entershikari.com – just a few days ago, and just for laughs.
The band will be available for all manner of promo during SXSW. To connect with the band send an e-mail to info@entershikari.com
British band Oasis have said that it is because of China that they have cancelled their China concert in what would have been the band’s first ever concert in that country and they believe that the reason behind China blocking their show is that lead singer Noel Gallagher took part in a free concert in Tibet in 1997.
The Ministry of Culture said at the time that Bjork “broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people’s feelings,” adding that “there is no country that admits that Tibet is an ‘independent country.” The band on the other hand has said that they are “extremely disappointed” with this decision of the Chinese government and hope they would reconsider their decision.
That’s the least you can expect from China, they want every person entering China to have words of praise for their regime or you are not welcomed. And that really shows that the Beijing Olympics were a complete farce on the world community showing how independent the people of that country are.
Oasis is scheduled to tour South Korea and Japan as well but there have never been such incidents in that country. I think the Chinese government thought that Oasis would be conducting their show in a village were people would be astonished to see foreign visitors and that would lead to revolt, ha ha!
The singer’s upcoming tour is not going to have a pretty good start since there are still many unsold tickets for the opening show at New Orleans that will take place tomorrow. A source had this to say about Britney Spears’ new predicament: “Group sales are down considerably, and then you’ve got individual tickets that cost as much as $500 apiece. That’s a lot of money to spend on an artist who isn’t a sure bet right now. She’s worked really, really hard to make this good. Granted, there’ve been some hiccups along the way, but she’s going to put on a good show. I just hope there are people there to see it. This is really her last chance.” That sounds tough… but no worries. Britney Spears’ father will probably intervene and save his daughter once again. After all, he is the game master lately.
The Jonas Brothers just give, give and give. Luckily for some fans, they might be able to meet Kevin, Nick and Joe soon. The thing is, fans won’t know before it happens. The band of brothers’ new flick ‘Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience’ opens in theaters nationwide today. The trio recently announced in a press conference that “We can’t give too many details as to what cities or how many cities we’ll be going to. What we can tell you is it will be a coast-to-coast tour and it’s really all about our fans, and being able to experience this with them.” You have to give credit to whoever thought of this publicity scheme. More tweens will be buying tickets to the movie hoping that the Jonas Brothers will be there.
When I say fallen idol, I do mean fallen idol. Look at how far Taylor Hicks has fallen! The former American Idol champion has lost his recording contract and has resorted to starring in the touring production of ‘Grease’. And he’s not even one of the leads. Taylor is performing the very teensy weensy role of ‘Teen Angel’. Oh well, at least he’s still getting a paycheck and his home isn’t in foreclosure – yet. What’s going to happen to him when the bosses decide that they want to replace him? He, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino are the sulkiest AI champs of all time.
Watch the Show Live on MSN!
In celebration of the release of Madonna’s upcoming album HARD CANDY, Control Room, MSN and Verizon Wireless will present the one and only Madonna live in New York’s famed Roseland Ballroom on Wednesday, April 30th. The show will be available live on MSN Music In Concert at music.msn.com/inconcert and will also be available for viewing post-show.
Now fans can Madonna-fy their online world with promo banners, Myspace codes, and desktop backgrounds:
Pre Concert:
Post Concert:
Amy ?no-show? Winehouse has pulled the plug on yet another gig for mysterious reasons.
She claimed she could not make her 30-minute slot in front of her bosses from Universal Music because she had rowed with jailbird hubby Blake Fielder-Civil on the phone and was upset.
The bigwigs at the swanky Grove Hotel in Herts were told she was ill.
Hmmm if you?re gonna make an excuse at least be consistent Amy. My instincts tell me it was because she was getting stuck in to her favourite illegal pastimes?