C103 Rock Report Friday February 29, 2008

• Josh Brolin star of “No Country For Old Men” has reportedly written a movie script centered around Ac/Dc’s late lead singer, Bon Scott, who died in 1980.

• Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee has ended speculation about his future as the band’s drummer by confirming he'll be joining the group when they tour the world later this year.

• Elton John performs tonight in Sudbury Ontario and tomorrow night in Kitchener, the only 2 Canadian stops on his current tour. Both shows are deep in controversy over free and/or reserved tickets offered to local politicians. Elton is set to spend the bulk of March and the early part of April performing in Las Vegas.

• Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel says the band is already writing new music despite just releasing Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace last September. With the band on tour through the end of the year promoting Echoes, which won the Grammy for Best Rock Album earlier this month, the Foos’ next album likely won’t be out until mid-2009.

• Bruce Springsteen has reportedly been in the studio working on both a new album with his E Street Band and a solo acoustic album, according to USA Today

C103 Rock Report Thursday February 28, 2008

• We talked about this yesterday and now the Black Crowes have rejected the apology from “Maxim” for fabricating a review of their new album which is yet to be released.

• March 17th is now ‘D-Day’, divorce settlement day, for Paul McCartney when a British judge will rule on how many millions he must hand over to former wife Heather Mills since the estranged twosome failed to reach an agreement. If either disputes the decision, the case could go to the Court of Appeal, where all hearings will be held in open court and the details revealed.

• Eddie Money is set to release a new CD…he’s decided to give up Rock and try Country this time. The album features some remakes of his rock songs done country style

• Paul Stanley from KISS is rumored to be in talks to star in a Las Vegas production of the musical The Phantom of the Opera.

• After six seasons, American Idol contestants are finally able to sing Beatles songs thanks to the show’s acquisition of rights to the joint Lennon/McCartney songbook.

C103 Rock Report Wednesday February 27, 2008

• According to Jon Holmes’ upcoming book, “Rock Star Babylon”, Tommy Lee & Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue once staged a ‘personal hygiene strike’ to see if it would affect their groupie action. After 2 months of total non-bathing, the contest finally ended when a fan lost her lunch...during the act.

• We were talking about this yesterday…Van Halen have abruptly postponed concerts in Charlottesville NC & Atlanta GA. Rumour has it that young Wolfgang Van Halen was involved in an altercation in a bar, causing a heated argument amongst the band members

• The reunited Stone Temple Pilots have added another concert to their summer tour, picking up headlining duties at this year’s Edgefest in Toronto on July 12th with Linkin Park, the Sam Roberts Band and others. Edgefest becomes the second festival to book STP, joining Columbus, Ohio’s Rock on the Range fest on May 17th.

• What do fiction writer Stephen King and John Mellencamp have in common? How about a Broadway musical? Stephen King has written the script for "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," with music by John Mellencamp. The play will open in Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in April 2009, with the object of getting it ready for a Broadway run. The idea for the story was Mellencamp's, and came from a story he heard years ago in his hometown of Seymour, Indiania

C103 Rock Report Tuesday February 26, 2008

• For Bob Dylan’s new recording project, he’s asked Jack White of the White Stripes & Willie Nelson to put music to unfinished songs by late country legend Hank Williams.

• Elton John’s partner David Furnish is re-releasing his 1996 documentary, “Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras”, in a revamped version that includes more behind-the-scenes footage. The Canadian filmmaker shot some 140 hours of film for the original production.

• Even though Nickelback have 3 more albums left on their contract with Warner Music subsidiary Roadrunner Records, they’re looking for a new deal that includes rights to master recordings. Their leverage: total sales of 16.3 million albums…

• Noel Gallagher of Oasis has reportedly put his $11-million villa on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza up for sale because he can’t stand his neighbour ... James Blunt.

• A painting by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood is among high profile artwork being auctioned in London this week in a charity auction for the Royal Academy of Arts.

• Maxim magazine has apologized for publishing a negative review of the Black Crowes' new album by a writer who hadn't listened to the whole CD. The review in Maxim's March issue gives the Crowes' "Warpaint" a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five. The band posted an exasperated statement on its Web site last week, saying the Maxim writer hadn't heard the entire album because advance copies were not available. "Warpaint," the Black Crowes' first album in seven years, is set for release March 4.

• North Korea has invited Eric Clapton to play a concert in its capital city, such a concert would make Clapton the first Western rock star to play North Korea. No word yet if Eric will in fact play a concert there…

New Lead Singer for Journey

One of my favourite bands of all time is Journey. I grew up listening to Escape (I borrowed from my sister and never gave back). They have a new lead singer. It's a guy from the Philippines they discovered on YouTube. Recently the band played in Chile at a music festival. Here's the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg42KNR6Irg

The guy sounds amazing!

C103 Rock Report Monday February 25, 2008

• Three Days Grace are planning to film a live show before wrapping up their current tour in early April which will likely be used for a future DVD release.

• Just seven months after the release of Memory Almost Full, Sir Paul McCartney is already working on new album. According to his publicist, “Paul started recording last week, but he has been writing for a while. It should be ready by the summer.” McCartney is reportedly working with producer Youth, a founding member of the band Killing Joke and the producer of albums such as the Verve’s Urban Hymns and, in some capacity, Guns N’ Roses’ long-delayed Chinese Democracy.

• U2, Madonna and Led Zeppelin are among the artists asked to participate in a series of international concerts by World Peace One, a not-for-profit world peace group. The shows would begin May 17th, though no acts have been confirmed.

• Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Pearl Jam have contributed tunes to the anti-war soundtrack for a documentary about a U.S. soldier paralyzed in Iraq. The 30-song, two-disc album "Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" will be released March 18. All proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit Iraq Veterans Against the War. "Body of War" focuses on Tomas Young, an Army soldier paralyzed upon arriving in Iraq. The album was put together by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who composed the first single, "No War," specifically for the film. Pearl Jam's live version of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" also appears on the soundtrack.

C103 Rock Report Friday February 22, 2008

• Billy Joel’s decision to perform a 2nd 'final concert' at New York’s Shea Stadium July 18th is angering fans who claim they’ve paid over $100 to watch him close the venue with the originally-scheduled July 16 show. It sold out in less than an hour.

• Eddie Vedder's soundtrack for the Golden Globe-award winning film “Into the Wild” was reportedly rejected for Oscar consideration because it was ‘too song-based’.

• On CMT’s show “Crossroads” tomorrow night Robert Plant & Alison Krauss perform each other’s hits plus music from their collaborative album, “Raising Sand”.

• Motley Crue will reportedly release their ninth album on July 8th. The Dirt is the band’s first studio record since 2000, and the band is expected to begin a world tour after it hits stores.

• Linkin Park played a secret show last night at an Apple Store in New York City. The six-song performance was filmed and recorded for a March release on iTunes.

• According to Coldplay’s manager Dave Holmes, the band is finished recording its Brian Eno-produced fourth album and are at the mixing stage. The album, due out in the summer, “is their best record,” says Holmes.

• According to the Moncton Times & Transcript Loverboy is set to play Summerside this August

C103 Rock Report Thursday February 21, 2008

• AC/DC Bassist Cliff Williams says the group will finally hit the studio March 1st, ending an 8-year recording drought. Previous reports had a new album already completed and in the can.

• There’s some controversy in Sudbury Ontario over his March 2nd show there after city councilors got first crack at buying tickets (all 6,000 seats sold out in less than an hour). Meantime in Kitchener Ontario, Elton’s other Canadian stop on this tour, city councilors got free tickets for the March 3rd show while family, friends & associates got first grab at buying a special block of reserved seats.

• The Foo Fighters are suing comic book giant Marvel for copyright infringement. The band alleges that Marvel used “substantial excerpts” of their songs “Best of You” and “Free Me” as the music for the trailer of the new animated series Wolverine and the X-Men…no word on the cash amount of the lawsuit…

• Velvet Revolver Drummer Matt Sorum is teaming with designer Max Noce to create the new Sorum Noce clothing line.

• More news on the Gene Simmons sex tape story…Gene has written on his official website: Rest Assured the proper legal team is looking at all ramifications and options.

• The woman who used her computer to harass Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington was sentenced to two years in jail after pleading guilty to stalking.

C103 Rock Report Wednesday February 20, 2008

• Keith Richards has announced he is so grateful to the neurosurgeon who saved his life after his 2006 fall in Fiji, he's moved the medic into his house. New Zealander Dr Andrew Law was required by insurers to accompany the Stones for the rest of their “Bigger Bang” tour to ensure Keith didn't suffer any complications. They became so close; he’s now living with Keith’s family, splitting time between their mansions in Connecticut and the UK.

• Van Morrison will kick off this year’s South By SouthWest festival in Austin, TX on March 12th with a performance at the club La Zona Rosa.

• A website called GenesSecret.com claims it has found a sex tape featuring Gene Simmons from KISS and a woman identified as a spokes model for an energy drink Gene reportedly endorses.

• U2 are locked away in a Dublin studio as they continue work on their new album with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the same producing team responsible for The Joshua Tree. According to Lanois, the recording sessions may produce two new albums worth of material…no word on a release date.

• Billy Joel has added a “second and final” show to his Shea Stadium run on July 18th after the July 16th date sold out in under and hour.

C103 Rock Report Tuesday February 19, 2008

• The reunited early ‘80s group Asia has finished work on a new album, appropriately titled “Phoenix”, and plans to hit the road MARCH 1st in the UK before touring North America, Japan, and Europe.

• REM have launched a website offering aspiring videographers the chance to cobble together their own video for “Supernatural Superserious”, the 1st single from the band's upcoming album, “Accelerate”.

• 64-year-old Mick Jagger is finally sounding his age by advising young musicians to live a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. These days he keeps himself impressively fit by boxing, swimming, and running up to 8 miles a day.

• White Stripes have released their first Spanish-language single, a reworking of their song “Conquest” called “Conquista”. It’s being issued on both CD and 7-inch vinyl under the name ‘Las Rayas Blancas’, the Spanish translation of the White Stripes.

• After 25 years rocking fans the world over, Bon Jovi has decided produce a documentary. The band has recently hired renowned documentary director Barbara Kopple to begin work on a new film that will document the group’s history and include footage of the band from the past as well as new footage that will be captured during the group’s tour that just got underway. There is no word yet on when the documentary will be completed and released to the public.

C103 Rock Report Monday February 18, 2008

• Just when you thought reality TV shows couldn’t get any dumber comes a report suggesting NBC is considering “Rockstar Curling”, which would pit celebs against each other in curling matches. Negotiations are said to be underway to entice ‘closet curlers’ Bruce Springsteen or Jon Bon Jovi to host the show.

• A 3-bedroom Mayfair flat that the Beatles shared in 1963 has just gone on the market in London for just shy of $3.5 million. It's the only residence all 4 Beatles ever lived in at once.

• Nickelback’s song “Rockstar” has been listed on Britain’s Top 40 chart for 16 weeks before finally hitting #1. That’s a new record.

• Since Tom Petty appeared on the Super Bowl halftime show, sales of his “Greatest Hits” album have shot up 196%; “Anthology: Through the Years” has jumped 240%; and digital sales of the single “Free Fallin'” are up 305%.

• Bono’s Valentines Day charity fundraiser far exceeded expectations, raising a whopping $42 million to help combat AIDS in Africa.

• Closed-door divorce proceedings with Paul McCartney’s estranged wife Heather Mills continue…Leaks from inside say a deal is already struck: a $40 million lump sum, plus $5.3 million per year for 15 years to maintain Mills & their 4-year-old daughter, Beatrice. Toss in legal fees and the total tab is about $128 million. But that’s all unofficial as yet.

C103 Rock Report Friday February 15, 2008

• Tom Sholtz of the band Boston has written a nasty letter to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee requesting he stop using the song “More Than a Feeling” in his campaign…In the letter Tom says while he is flattered that Huckabee is fond of his song, he says he’s shocked that Huckabee would use it and the name BOSTON to promote himself without consent. Tom Sholtz goes on to say that BOSTON has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything BOSTON stands for. In fact, he says although he’s impressed Huckabee learned the bass part on More Than a Feeling, Sholtz says he’s an Obama supporter.

• Ringo Starr has announced the members of his All-Star Band for its summer tour. Since 1989 Ringo Starr has traveled with a rotating line-up of musicians who sing two or three of their own songss and back Ringo up on his solo songs and Beatles tracks. Previous All Starrs have run the gamut from Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton to Sheila E and Paul Carrack. This year Edgar Winter, Billy Squire, Gary Wright, Colin Hay from Men at Work, and Hamish Stuart of Average White Band will be joining Ringo

• And an update on a story we reported on earlier this week: Yoko Ono released a statement saying she is not suing the band Lennon, named after singer Lennon Murphy, for using the name of her deceased husband John Lennon, but rather is seeking to prevent the band Lennon from getting exclusive use of the name “Lennon.”

• A new Guitar Hero video game featuring Aerosmith will be in stores this summer. The game features about 30 Aerosmith songs…no price has been set yet.

C103 Rock Report Thursday February 14, 2008

• The Police reunion tour will make one more trip through North America this summer before the band calls it quits again. As opposed to last year, the group will stick to amphitheatres and arenas without any stadium or festival stops during the thirty-odd date trek in May and July (with a fifteen date run in Europe sandwiched into June). The band also promises to play U.S. cities that were skipped over when the band first reunited last May. The Police reunion tour is estimated to be one of the top five highest-grossing tours of all-time, with the net profit somewhere in the range of $340 million when all is said and done.

• “Made In Heaven: The Freddie Mercury Collection,” a line of jewellery inspired by the late Queen front man, has been launched by designer Udi Behr. The pieces include gold and silver pendants and rings, as well as leather cuffs.

• Five years after faulty pyrotechnics at a Great White show caused a Rhode Island club to catch fire, Clear Channel has agreed to a $22 million settlement to survivors and relatives of the victims of the blaze.

• The Clash – Next Month, PBS stations will premiere “The Clash Live: Revolution Rock”, a new documentary chronicling performances by the iconic punk pioneers at the peak of their popularity in the early ‘80s.

C103 Rock Report Wednesday February 13, 2008

• CTV News reported last night at the Eagles will play Magnetic Hill this August. However, the City released a press release moments later stating that no act has been signed or confirmed to play The Hill this summer. The show has been rumoured for several weeks…

• The Stone Temple Pilots have announced they will be reuniting for this year’s Rock on the Range festival in Ohio…it will be the band’s first concert in 7 years. Many had doubted the band would do a show this year because Scott Weiland is currently in rehab but Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash also confirmed the news. No other concert dates for the band have been announced yet.

• Courtney Love says she wants Half Nelson actor Ryan Gosling to play her late husband Kurt Cobain in a film…Courtney is the executive producer of the 60 million dollar film called “Heavier Than Heaven”. The movie is based on Charles’ Cross’s Biography of Cobain.

• Pete Townshend says he & Roger Daltrey have begun writing songs separately for a new Who album to follow up 2006’s “Endless Wire”.

C103 Rock Report Tuesday February 12, 2008

• Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills are back in court to try to reach a financial conclusion to their divorce battle. McCartney’s said to be worth $1.6 billion, meaning the settlement could be Britain's largest-ever divorce payout. Current estimates predict she’ll receive something in the $100-200 million range.

• Meanwhile more Beatles news:Yoko Ono is suing Lennon Murphy, lead singer of the band Lennon, for intentionally exploiting the name of her deceased husband, John Lennon.

• Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx has refuted claims the band has signed a multi-million dollar agreement with Live Nation for a tour on his MySpace blog.

• Lenny Kravitz has been forced to cancel his European tour due to a severe respiratory infection alone with the flu.

• Meanwhile it was announced this week that Velvet Revolver has officially cancelled its Australian tour while Scott Weiland is in rehab.

• Bon Jovi is headlining a concert series to raise funds for lung cancer research — a cause that became personal for the band after Richie Sambora's father died of the disease last year. Money raised during the yearlong concert series will go to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where Sambora's father received treatment.

Snow...

Well, there was some snow in Moncton over the weekend; certainly not the 50 or 100 cms some people were talking about. Officially we got 17 cms in Moncton over the weekend...just as I thought. Although the driving this morning was tricky...

ECMA's

Well, I'm back from a great weekend of live music in Fredericton for the 2008 ECMA's. I had the chance to check out some great live performances over the weekend. I took in 2 songwriters' circles at the Playhouse, The Roots Room at the Delta Fredericton, The Rock Room also at the Delta and lots of other great shows. One of the highlights was seeing Matt Andersen perform on Friday night during the ECMA concert series at the Playhouse. He's an incredible live performer and got a huge standing ovation which was so long it delayed the start of the next performer! I snapped a couple of pics of Matt...sorry for the low quality I took the pics with my BB. I also shot a brief video of Matt...check it out!

I also enjoyed a performance by The Trews on Saturday night...but man it was LOUD!

ECMA 2008

I'm heading to the ECMA's in Fredericton this weekend. I'm planning to update my blog with pics and details on the shows I check out...stay tuned....

Who says there will be a storm on Sunday!?!?

Ok, so I heard from more than a few people today, including my wife, that there would be a big storm coming on Sunday. I picked up my new sunglasses today and the guy said we are supposed to get as much as 100 centimeters of snow! I know it's been a crazy winter in Moncton with huge storms and snow but come on...aren't we all getting a little to freaked out and jumping to conclusions here?

there, I feel better now...

BTW, we're expecting 10 cms on Sunday...according to the weather network...