Musician Rob Scallon proves that with the right technique, you can play any genre of music on any instrument, even if it’s a sitar and metal.
Pixies announce second leg to 2017 North American Tour
With more than half of Leg One already sold out, Pixies announce the addition of Leg Two to its 2017 North American touring schedule. The band will kick off the second leg September 19 in New Haven, CT, and will perform in major and secondary markets over a five-week period. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 24; log onto www.pixiesmusic.com for pre-sales details and complete purchasing info.
Pixies, a long time leader in helping to break the ticket scalper stranglehold, will be working to get their face-value tickets to their fans, and not to touts for inflated resale, something they did very successfully during last Fall’s UK tour. Said Pixies manager Richard Jones, “On this tour, we are asking the promoters and the venues to make avaialble as many tickets as possible for pre-sales. That way, we can help insure that tickets get into the hands of the fans and not the scalpers. We’ve also asked the promoters to remove any secondary site links and to use their anti-tout teams and technology to help combat the scalper market.”
Leg Two will also include additional New York shows as well as this cycle’s first Canadian shows, scheduled in Toronto and Montreal. Sunflower Bean, who Rolling Stone called “NYC’s coolest young band,” will provide support on the first half of the tour with Brooklyn’s Mitski (“one of the most compelling voices in the sphere of indie rock” – Pitchfork) opening the shows on the second half. The confirmed itinerary is below and includes the band’s upcoming international dates.
On the 2017 dates, Pixies – Joey Santiago/guitar, Black Francis/guitar & vocals, David Lovering/drums, and bassist Paz Lenchantin – are introducing to its global audiences a brand new stage set designed by their longtime production manager Simon Foster and lighting designer Myles Mangino. The design is simple and sleek and fashioned around special pods that are positioned behind the band, housing all of the lighting. Fans can expect a set list comprised of the classics and catalogue rarities as well as newer songs from Indie Cindy and the band’s latest release, Head Carrier. As is the norm, there will be no firm setlist for Pixies’ shows; their sets, while pulled from nearly 90 songs that the band has rehearsed and is prepared to play, will change somewhat from night to night with every number determined just before it’s performed.
Pixies launched the European leg of this 2016-17 global run last November, playing sold-out shows throughout the UK and wrapping up in Birmingham on December 8. The band is back on the road as of February 25, playing a series of dates in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and, for the first time, South Africa. Following the April/May North American leg, Pixies will head to Europe to play a series of major summer festivals.
Confirmed dates are below:
February 25 – March 18, 2017
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa
North American Tour, Leg One
APRIL
21 Fox Theatre, Pomona, CA*
22 Cal Coast Open Air, San Diego, CA*
23 House of Blues, Anaheim, CA*
25 Ace Theatre, Los Angeles, CA*
29 Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX*
30 White Oak Music Hall, Houston, TX*
MAY
1 Stubbs, Austin, TX*
3 Saenger Theatre, New Orleans, LA*
5 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN*
6 Madison Theatre, Covington, KY*
7 Express Live Amphitheatre, Columbus, OH*
9 The National, Richmond, VA**
11 Durham PAC, Durham, NC**
12 Shaky Knees Music Festival, Atlanta, GA**
14 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD**
16 Lincoln Theatre, Washington, DC**
17 Lincoln Theatre, Washington, DC**
19 House of Blues, Boston, MA**
20 House of Blues, Boston, MA**
21 Paradise Ballroom, Boston, MA**
23 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA**
24 Webster Hall, New York, NY**
25 Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY**
26 Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY**
* Public Access TV will support
** Cymbals Eat Guitars will support
July 6 – August 11, 2017
UK/Europe
North American Tour, Leg Two
SEPTEMBER
19 College Street Music Hall, New Haven, CT*
22 The Westbury Theatre, Westbury, NY*
23 Stone Pony Summerstage, Asbury Park, NJ*
24 The Capitol Theatre, Portchester, NY*
26 State Theatre, Portland, ME*
27 Metropolis, Montreal QC*
29 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON*
30 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON*
OCTOBER
1 UB Centre for the Arts, Buffalo, NY (support TBA)
3 The Agora Theatre, Cleveland, OH*
4 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA*
6 The Fillmore Detroit, Detroit, MI*
7 20 Monroe Live, Grand Rapids, MI**
8 The Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL**
11 Palace Theatre, St. Paul, MN**
14 Peabody Opera House, St. Louis, MO**
15 Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland, Kansas City, MO**
18 Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO**
21 The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV**
* Sunflower Bean will support
** Mitski will support
Virginia To Vegas Confirmed “Utopian” Tour Dates In Eastern Canada
Following a successful run of western Canadian dates with Marianas Trench and Shawn Hook, singer-songwriter and platinum recording artist Virginia To Vegas, aka Derik Baker, revealed the first round of dates on his headlining “Utopian Tour” today. Named after the notable 2016 full-length album “Utopian” (Wax Records/Universal Music Canada), which spawned the Top 10 hit “Lights Out”, and the platinum-selling smash “We Are Stars” featuring Alyssa Reid, the Utopian Tour kicks off on March 23rd in Waterloo and includes stops in Montreal, Toronto and London. Additionally, Virginia To Vegas will make an appearance during the JUNO Awards festivities in Ottawa this coming April, headlining a JUNOfest show on April 1st at Live! On Elgin. St. John’s indie rock outfit Repartee joins the Utopian Tour as special guest for all dates except Toronto.
Also announced today, Virginia To Vegas will release the brand new track “Selfish” to radio this Friday (2/24). The follow up to 2016’s Gold-certified “Lights Out” – a Spotify mainstay with close to 5 million streams, “Selfish” sees Virginia To Vegas once again join forces with the powerhouse team of writers and producers behind his Top 10 hit and fastest rising single to date to deliver another modern crafted pop song.
Recognized as a fitting example of tomorrow’s global music star, Virginia To Vegas, aka Derik Baker, hails from Guelph, Ontario where he was raised on his parent’s eclectic record collection and cut his teeth in the music industry writing songs for a variety of pop artists. Discovered on YouTube in 2013 by Wax Records Jamie Appleby, he released his debut single “We Are Stars”, which quickly introduced the exciting new talent to thousands of fans, and saw him top radio charts and earn a platinum-selling single. Virginia To Vegas followed his highly praised success with the release of the EP “Volume 1”, which included the popular singles “Don’t Fight the Music” and “Colourful”.
The past couple of years have seen Virginia To Vegas travel the continent, film music videos in Las Vegas and New York, share arena stages with Alyssa Reid and Hedley and perform on the Much Music Video Awards (MMVAs).
In 2016, Wax Records, one of Canada’s leading independent record labels entered into a distribution deal with Ultra Music – the world’s premiere electronic music label and a division of Sony Music Entertainment, to license Virginia To Vegas’ hit single “Lights Out” and forthcoming album for the world, excluding Canada. Virginia To Vegas joins some of today’s hottest international artists including; Calvin Harris, Omi and Kygo on the Ultra Music label around the world with anticipated releases in the US, UK and key European markets throughout 2017.
*JUNOfest show
^with special guest Repartee
March 23 – Waterloo, ON – Maxwells^
March 30 – Montreal, QC – Belmont^
April 1 – Ottawa, ON – Live! On Elgin^*
April 6 – Toronto, ON – Mod Club
April 13 – London, ON – Rum Runners^
Terrence Malick’s “Song To Song” Film Gets Its First Trailer
Two intersecting love triangles. Obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas. Haley Bennett, Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman, Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Christian Bale, and Benicio Del Toro star in the Terrence Malick-directed film.
PPL reveals most-played Nirvana songs for Kurt Cobain’s 50th birthday today
UK Collecting society PPL has compiled a list of the most played Nirvana songs on UK TV and radio to mark what would have been frontman Kurt Cobain’s 50th birthday today.
“Kurt Cobain was one of the most visionary figures in music in the late 1980s and early 1990s”, says PPL’s Head Of Music Reporting Services Tim Silver. “He inspired countless young people all over the world to start learning an instrument and to have the confidence to begin writing their own music. On what would have been his 50th birthday, we are delighted to be able to honour him with a chart of the 20 most-played Nirvana songs on radio and TV. There are a lot of their best-known tracks in there but also one or two curveballs as well”.
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Come As You Are
3. Lithium
4. Heart-Shaped Box
5. In Bloom
6. The Man Who Sold The World (MTV Unplugged)
7. All Apologies
8. About A Girl
9. Aneurysm
10. On A Plan
11. Drain You
12. Stay Away
13. Breed
14. Love Buzz
15. Serve The Servants
16. Lounge Act
17. Something In The Way
18. Molly’s Lips
19. Dumb
20. Territorial Pissings
Teenager Gets To Play With Bruce Springsteen Onstage In Australia, For The Second Time
Bruce Springsteen played in Brisbane Thursday night. A teenager held up a sign that said he was missing school for the concert, and could he play Growin’ Up? Springsteen called the young man up on stage to play. Fifteen-year-old Nathan Testa knew the song well enough to ask The Boss, but here’s the even stranger part. This was the second time he’s been pulled from the audience. While attending a Brisbane concert with his family in 2013, Testa, then 11, was pulled on stage to play Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.
Mind-Blowing Video Of Robotics, Projection Mapping And Software Engineering Will Make You Go “Whoa”
This video was made with the help of large-scale robotics, projection mapping, software engineering. Bot & Dolly’s technology is an integrated software/ hardware platform providing innovative control of 6-axis industrial robots, and other things I am completely at ease to say I don’t understand. All the more impactful like a magician’s trick at the end of the evening, and more questions than before I started watching.
Brothers Perform Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” In Jerusalem
Brothers Aryeh and Gil Gat turn in a superb cover version of Pink Floyd’s 1975 classic Wish You Were Here on the streets of Jerusalem. One of the band’s most-loved songs, done in a style you would have never thought of.
Danish Blues Band Performs “Minnie the Moocher” In The Streets Of NYC
Danish blues rock band Brothers Moving perform an acoustic cover of Cab Calloway’s classic scat hit Minnie the Moocher at New York City’s Union Square.
Watch Rage Against The Machine’s Very First Show Back In 1991
On October 23, 1991, four men in baggy pants introduced themselves to the world, calling their band Rage Against The Machine, with a nearly hour-long set at California State University, Northridge. Within a year, their self-titled debut album would go triple platinum a year after this show.