PK Sound CEO Jeremy Bridge demos his new system that funnels concert sounds directly to festival audiences and away from neighbouring areas.
Photo Gallery: Arkells with Cold War Kids, Bishop Briggs and Ellevator at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field
All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Yamaha DX7 – The Synthesizer that Defined the ’80s
The Yamaha DX7 is an FM synthesis-based digital synthesizer and electronic keyboard manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first commercially successful digital synthesizer, and its distinctive sound can be heard on many recordings, especially pop music and dance music from the 1980s. Its preset sounds were particularly popular due to the difficulty of FM synthesis programming combined with the immediacy of the stock (preset) DX7 sounds, meaning that players tended to perform and record with the sounds they had at their fingertips. These stock sounds ultimately proliferated to the point that they were regarded as clichéd by the end of the 1980s.
Photo Gallery: Vance Joy with Scott Helman at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage
All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Steve Carrell Stars In What Could Be The Most Original Movie Of The Year – Welcome to Marwen
This holiday season, Academy Award winner Robert Zemeckis — the groundbreaking filmmaker behind Forrest Gump, Flight and Cast Away — directs Steve Carell in the most original movie of the year. Welcome to Marwen tells the miraculous true story of one broken man’s fight as he discovers how artistic imagination can restore the human spirit.
When a devastating attack shatters Mark Hogancamp (Carell) and wipes away all memories, no one expected recovery. Putting together pieces from his old and new life, Mark meticulously creates a wondrous town where he can heal and be heroic. As he builds an astonishing art installation—a testament to the most powerful women he knows—through his fantasy world, he draws strength to triumph in the real one.
In a bold, wondrous and timely film from this revolutionary pioneer of contemporary cinema, Welcome to Marwen shows that when your only weapon is your imagination…you’ll find courage in the most unexpected place.
The epic drama is produced by Oscar-winning producer Steve Starkey (Forrest Gump, Flight), Jack Rapke (Cast Away, Flight), and Cherylanne Martin (The Pacific, Flight) of Zemeckis’ Universal-based ImageMovers banner produce alongside the director. It is executive produced by Jackie Levine, as well as Jeff Malmberg, who directed the riveting 2010 documentary that inspired the film.
Nick Offerman Is The Indie Rock Dad You Always Wanted In New Video
Enjoy the official music video for the song “Hearts Beat Loud” from Hearts Beat Loud, a new indie film out this summer. The song is performed by Keegan DeWitt, Nick Offerman, and Kiersey Clemons.
Neil Diamond Will Release “Hot August Night III” On August 17, 2018
On August 17, Capitol/UMe will celebrate one of the century’s most electrifying live albums, with the release of Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night Ill, a live concert DVD/CD Blu-Ray multi-disc set. Hot August Night Ill chronicles Diamond’s triumphant return to the legendary Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August 2012.The magical evening was Diamond’s 40th anniversary celebration of the original multiplatinum-selling Hot August Night collection that was recorded at the very same venue in 1972.
Diamond’s noted concert performance and onstage musical prowess is in full evidence on Hot August Night Ill, which features 33 songs including 31 greatest hits. Clocking in at over 2 hours and 20 minutes in length, Hot August Night Ill will be released in multiple audio/video configurations, including 2CD, 2CD + 1DVD, and 2CD + 1Blu-ray, as well as digital and download options. The multidisc set’s accompanying video content contains rare behind-the scenes footage with both the band and the crew, showcasing the undeniably palpable energy surrounding Diamond’s return to this most historic venue.
Following the 2012 shows at The Greek, Billboard Magazine said of Diamond’s performance, “His voice remains powerful and accurate; he reaches towards the baritone register for emphasis, just as he did in the 70’s. …he never falters in delivering every line with conviction.”
From the fine acoustic twang of “Forever in Blue Jeans” to the pure Americana swing of “Kentucky Woman” to the eternal sing-along sunshine of “Sweet Caroline” to the raw emotionality of “I Am…I Said” to the welcoming arms of “America,” Hot August Night Ill cements Diamond’s mastery of the live stage and his unique connection with audiences the world over.
Released in December 1972, the original Hot August Night – the title of which was culled from the opening line to one of Diamond’s most celebrated tracks, 1969’s “Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show” – captures a magical performance on the evening of one of his ten sold-out shows at the Greek that August. Of these nights, Robert Hilburn of The Los Angeles Times declared, “His 1972 Hot August Night stand at the Greek remains among the most celebrated series of shows by a mainstream pop-rock performer ever in Los Angeles.”
Throughout his illustrious and wide-ranging career, Neil Diamond has sold over 130 million albums worldwide and has dominated the charts for more than five decades with 38 Top 40 singles and 16 Top 10 albums. He has achieved record sales with 40 Gold albums, 21 Platinum albums and 11 Multi-Platinum albums.
A Grammy Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and has recently received The Johnny Mercer Award and the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, two of the highest honors bestowed upon songwriters. Diamond’s many other achievements include a Golden Globe Award, 13 Grammy nominations, ASCAP Film and Television Award, Billboard Icon Award, American Music Award and 2009’s NARAS’s MusiCares Person of the Year Award. In 2011, Diamond received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime of contributions to American culture.
And now, with the endless dynamic enthusiasm that’s apparent all throughout Hot August Night III, Neil Diamond once again sweetly proves that good times never seemed so good.
Neil Diamond HOT AUGUST NIGHT III [2CD, 2CD+1DVD, 2CD+1BD, Digital Download]
Disc 1
1. Overture
2. Soolaimon
3. Beautiful Noise
4. Forever in Blue Jeans
5. Love On The Rocks
6. Hello Again
7. September Morn
8. Play Me
9. Shilo
10. Red, Red Wine
11. You Got To Me
12. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
13. Thank The Lord For The Night Time
14. Cherry, Cherry
15. Kentucky Woman
16. Solitary Man
17. Glory Road
18. Chelsea Morning
19. I’m A Believer
20. Happy Birthday Rose
21. Cracklin’ Rosie
Disc 2
1. And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind
2. Pretty Amazing Grace
3. We
4. Stones
5. You Don’t Bring Me Flowers
6. Holly Holy
7. Morningside
8. Crunchy Granola Suite
9. Sweet Caroline
10. Sweet Caroline – Reprise
11. I Am…I Said
12. Walk Off
13. America
14. Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show
15. I’ve Been This Way Before
16. Walk Off
17. Band Bows
18. Audience Exit
RCA/Legacy Recordings Set to Release Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone on Friday, August 10
RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone, a new Elvis album celebrating the artist’s everlasting love of gospel music, on Friday, August 10.
Produced by Joel Weinshanker, Lisa Marie Presley and Andy Childs, Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone introduces newly-recorded instrumentation and backing vocal contributions from music legends who’d performed on-stage and/or in-the-studio with Elvis. It also includes a reimagined duet with Elvis and his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, on the album’s title track and spiritual touchstone.
“It was a very powerful and moving experience to sing with my father,” wrote Lisa Marie in her notes for the album. “The lyrics speak to me and touch my soul. I’m certain that the lyrics spoke to my father in much the same way.”
Background vocalists on the album include: Darlene Love (who first sang with Elvis on his 1968 NBC television special); Dr. Cissy Houston (who, with The Sweet Inspirations, sang with Elvis on-stage beginning in 1969); Terry Blackwood, Armond Morales and Jim Murray (members of The Imperials, who sang on Elvis’ How Great Thou Art – with the title song winning the 1967 Grammy for Best Sacred Performance); and Donnie Sumner, Bill Baize, Ed Hill and Larry Strickland (members of Presley’s longtime backup group, The Stamps).
Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone will be available in digital, CD and 12″ vinyl album configurations.
Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone provides new musical perspectives on 14 of the singer’s favorite pieces of gospel music, from the reverential to the celebratory, with song selections including Presley’s beloved enduring gospel classics (the 1965 Top 5 smash “Crying In The Chapel,” “How Great Thou Art,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone”), praise-filled gospel-rockers (Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller’s “Saved”) and traditional hymns and spirituals (“So High,” “Stand By Me,” “In The Garden,” “Amazing Grace”).
Elvis Presley once said, “Since I was two years old, all I knew was gospel music. It became such a part of my life, it was as natural as dancing. A way to escape my problems, and my way of release.” It was Elvis’ explosive mix of styles–blues, bluegrass, country, swing, pop–that generated his iconic world-changing rock n’ roll, but it was the hymns, spirituals and church music of his childhood, the deep-seated gospel roots that sustained Elvis and his musical vision throughout his life.
Friends and family would often recall hearing Elvis sing gospel tunes at home and to warm up before concerts. “We do two shows a night for five weeks,” Presley said in an interview featured in the documentary Elvis On Tour, recorded during one of his residencies at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. “A lotta times we’ll go upstairs and sing until daylight—gospel songs. We grew up with it…It more or less puts your mind at ease. It does mine.”
“This was his favorite genre – no question about it,” says Lisa Marie in her album notes. “He seemed to be at his most passionate, and at peace while singing gospel. He would truly come alive – whether he was singing just for himself and me at home, or on stage in front of thousands of fans.”
Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone Track List
01. I’ve Got Confidence
02. Where No One Stands Alone (with Lisa Marie Presley)
03. Saved
04. Crying In The Chapel
05. So High
06. Stand By Me
07. Bosom Of Abraham
08. How Great Thou Art
09. I, John
10. You’ll Never Walk Alone
11. He Touched Me
12. In The Garden
13. He Is My Everything
14. Amazing Grace
Slacker Radio Partners With Dash Radio To Bring An Expanded Lineup Of Original Content To The Slacker Platform
LiveXLive Media, Inc., a global digital media company focused on live entertainment, and Dash Radio, a digital radio broadcasting platform with more than 80 original live stations, announced today that they have partnered to launch Dash channels across LiveXLive’s subsidiary Slacker Radio (“Slacker”), a streaming music and personalized radio subscription service. The introduction of Dash content marks the first time live radio is being made available to fans across the Slacker platform, including Dash’s custom partner channels featuring Snoop Dogg, Odd Future, Lil Wayne, Oscar De La Hoya, and many more artists. The agreement also provides Dash with increased visibility and access to Slacker’s robust audience of users along with the ability to broadcast live from select LiveXLive partner festivals.
LiveXLive delivers premium livestreamed, digital audio and on-demand music experiences from the world’s top music festivals and concerts, including Rock in Rio, EDC Las Vegas, Hangout Music Festival, and many more.
Dash offers millions of listeners non-stop, live broadcasts and original stations across multiple genres and categories. Its stations are hand-curated and powered by some of the biggest artists, DJs, radio personalities, musicians, and music tastemakers in the world.
The Dash integration provides Slacker users with seamless access to new music and original programming across a variety of Dash’s live streaming stations. As one of the industry’s leading live music streaming platforms, LiveXLive will also provide Dash with onsite access to some of the world’s biggest music festivals for the purpose of creating co-branded audio and video shoulder content such as artist interviews with Dash hosts. The exclusive content will broadcast across Dash, Slacker and LiveXLive channels to promote each festival’s live stream as well as the collective content suite.
In addition to bolstering Slacker’s relationships with key talent across music and entertainment, the agreement also strengthens Dash’s distribution, content, and market presence. The integration provides Dash with access to a new base of consumers and music enthusiasts through Slacker’s proven programming and personalization platform.
Paul Simon Announces Farewell Performance On September 22, 2018
Paul Simon announced today he will perform the final concert of his Farewell Tour in the borough of Queens, where he spent his formative years. On Saturday, September 22 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Simon and his band will bring to the stage a stunning, career-spanning repertoire of timeless hits and classics, as well as a unique selection of songs the artist has selected for this once-in-a-lifetime show.
Paul Simon’s Homeward Bound – The Farewell Performance will be the first major concert event at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in decades.
Simon will be donating all personal net-proceeds from the event to a previously-selected cause, which will be announced at a later date.
Homeward Bound – The Farewell Performance will be a celebration of a renowned touring career that began in the 1960s and has coincided with his artistic journey as a songwriter and recording artist through the present day. Simon said of this final show, “It seems more like fate than coincidence that I should do the final show on this final tour at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. I could have ridden my bike from home to the park in about 20 minutes, when I was a kid. But this is less a goodbye than a farewell. Thank you all for the ride, I had a great time.”
This past February, upon the announcement of his Farewell Tour, Simon wrote the following letter to his fans:
I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I’d consider bringing my performing career to a natural end. Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief.
I love making music, my voice is still strong, and my band is a tight, extraordinary group of gifted musicians. I think about music constantly. Sadly, we lost our lead guitarist and my friend of 30 years, Vincent N’guini, who died last December. His loss is not the only reason I’ve decided to stop touring, but it is a contributing factor. Mostly, though, I feel the travel and time away from my wife and family takes a toll that detracts from the joy of playing. I’d like to leave with a big Thank You to the many folks around the world who’ve come out to watch me play over the last 50 years.
After this coming tour, I anticipate doing the occasional performance in a (hopefully) acoustically pristine hall, and to donate those earnings to various philanthropic organizations, particularly those whose objective is to save the planet, ecologically.
Once again, I am very grateful for a fulfilling career and, of course, most of all to the audiences who heard something in my music that touched their hearts.