The Production Side

Any concert goer is well aware of Live Nation, and all of their monopolistic fees and surcharges. Now, it looks like they’re branching out to perhaps take over the entire music industry.
It started with Madonna, which is not a surprise to me, who signed an astounding contract with the concert behemoth for $120 million, which would combine all of her music ventures, such as concerts, albums, merchandising, etc.
Now, U2 has followed in her footsteps.
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The Irish heavyweights have inked a 12 year deal with Live Nation that will cover the …read more

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With all this jibber jabber about Billy Corgan suing Virgin Records, we should take a look back to a previous FYI on the Pumpkins from last fall.
FYI: Smashing Pumpkins
For now check out enjoy old school Pumpkins with the video for “Rhinoceros”, which is still one of my favorite Pumpkin songs:

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Smashing Pumpkin frontman Billy Corgan is telling anyone and everyone about his feud with former label Virgin Records.
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Corgan is suing Virgin because the label used the band’s name in a Amazon and Pepsi promotion, which is understandable.
However, Corgan then contacted the press from Australia, where the Pumpins are currently on tour.
Check out what Corgan had to tell Billboard about the feud with Virgin.
And, check out his interview with Rolling Stone where he discusses the obvious state of the music industry.
I do actually agree with …read more

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So last weekend I happened to watch the 1999 flick American Pie, because there was nothing else on. The movie isn’t that great as I once thought it was, but it was fun watching it and reminiscing on high school days.
However, one thing that I really enjoyed about the movie was the use of “You Wanted More” by Tonic. I loved that song then and it’s still a guilty pleasure of mine.
The track got lots of airplay and it even hit #3 on the Billboard Mainstream Tracks. It was also featured on Tonic’s second album Sugar, which was released in …read more

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Besides the new Racounters new album, the only other release worth mentioning today is The Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray.
Wait a minute…didn’t that come out in 1992?
Yes, it did. But, it’s receiving the good old collector’s edition treatment.

So, here’s what the collector’s edition contains:
Disc one is the original album (with classics like “My Drug Buddy”, their cover of “Mrs. Robinson” and of course the self-titled track), plus ten bonus tracks; which are mainly demos of tracks from the album, but still very cool.
Disc two is a DVD filled with lots of goodies, like three live videos from Australia, such …read more

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Some of the folks here at b5 decided to get together and share their favorite concerts.
You can check out the list right here.
Now I wasn’t involved in this, but I wanted to share my favorite concert, because I love going to concerts and this seems like a great idea for a post.
This was difficult at first, because I’ve been to a lot of shows, but I started to narrow things down. Two bands then came up for the honor.
Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam were suddenly in a heated battle for my favorite concert of all time. They’re my two …read more

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At last Thursday’s gig in Glasgow, Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland made some interesting comments.
He told the audience: “You’re watching something special…the last tour by Velvet Revolver”.
Now some folks may be thinking that Scott was just making empty promises from the stage, but just remember that it was from the stage earlier this year that Scott told an audience about STP reforming. So, this may not be just some stupid remark.
However, this story then gets a bit silly.
See, drummer Matt Sorum went to the web and shared his feelings on the situation.  Sorum stated: “Being in a band is a lot …read more

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The Verve reunited last year and this year they’re staying on the road with some big-time gigs, like Coachella and Glastonbury. The band is also working on a new album, so it’s a great time for an FYI on The Verve.
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The band formed in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Form College.
The band consisted of Richard Ashcroft (vocals), Nick McCabe (guitar), Simon Jones (bass), Peter Salisbury (drums).
In 1991 the band signed to Hut Records (a British subsidiary of Virgin who licensed a little band known as the Smashing Pumpkins).
1992 the band issued …read more

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Pearl Jam finally made a tour announcement this afternoon, to the delight of patient fans, who have been speculating this for some time now.

The band will kick the tour off June 11 in West Palm Beach, FL and wrap things up on June 30 in Mansfield, MA. The tour also includes the previously announced headlining spot at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival, as well as two nights at the legendary Madison Square Garden.
Some of the band members also spoke to Billboard, where bassist Jeff Ament stated that they have been tossing around ideas for a new album.
What a great day this turned …read more

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It’s been just under five years since Counting Crows have released a new studio album, but come this Tuesday, March 25, fans can bask in a 2 disc release.
Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings is going to be a concept type album. The first disc, Saturday Nights, is about partying and then losing yourself into the darkness of the nightlife. Sunday Mornings is about waking up and realizing that probably some bad stuff happened the night before. The band even had different producers on the 2-discs, with Gil Norton (who produced the Foo Fighters’ Colour and the Shape and Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace) …read more

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