Nickelback Confirms 2010 Dark Horse Tour Dates With Special Guests Breaking Benjamin and Shinedown

Nickelback Confirms 2010 Dark Horse Tour Dates With Special Guests Breaking Benjamin and Shinedown

Tickets go on sale in select markets beginning December 4th at LiveNation.com

LOS ANGELES — Grammy-nominated, mega-platinum rock powerhouse Nickelback, has announced the 2010 North American leg of their Dark Horse World Tour, a Live Nation produced event. The tour will feature special guests Breaking Benjamin and Shinedown with the opening act and additional dates to be announced. The newly confirmed dates are hot off the heels of their summer and fall dates where the band played to sold out crowds around the world. Tickets go on sale beginning December 4th in select markets at LiveNation.com.

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Nickelback fan club members will have access to presale tickets beginning November 27th in select markets. Citi® cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning November 30th at 10am local time through Citi’s Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com. Additional information on the tour, ticket on sales, fan club membership and VIP packages is available at Nickelback.com and LiveNation.com.

  NICKELBACK DARK HORSE 2010 TOUR:
  April 6           London, ON           John Labatt Centre
  April 8           Toronto, ON          Air Canada Centre
  April 9           Montreal, QC         Bell Centre
  April 11          Ottawa, ON           Scotiabank Place
  April 13          Washington, DC       Verizon Center
  April 14          Hampton VA           Hampton Coliseum*
  April 16          Greenville, SC       BI-LO Center*
  April 17          Greensboro, NC       Greensboro Coliseum Complex*
  April 19          Orlando, FL          Amway Arena*
  April 21          Atlanta, GA          Philips Arena
  April 24          Tulsa, OK            BOK Center
  * Shinedown not included.

The latest single from Dark Horse, “Never Gonna Be Alone,” is already top 15 at Hot A/C and heating up quickly at Top 40. Last week also saw the premiere of the video for “Never Gonna Be Alone.” Added out of the box at VH1 and Fuse, both channels will start airing it on November 23rd. The video can currently be seen via Nickelback.com, RoadrunnerRecords.com and YouTube. Look for the broadcast premiere November 23rd. The video was shot by veteran director and longtime Nickelback friend Nigel Dick.

Nickelback is one of the biggest rock bands in the world, with over 35 million albums sold. The band’s latest album, Dark Horse, produced by the legendary Mutt Lange, debuted at number two on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and has remained on the Top 200 for 50 weeks selling over 2.4 million albums in the US alone. Nickelback is currently nominated for a 2009 American Music Award in the Pop/Rock category for Favorite Band, Duo or Group.

Nickelback has enjoyed unprecedented success with their last album, All The Right Reasons, which has been RIAA certified 8X platinum. The six singles from the album totaled 12 million downloads and 6 million ringtones. All proceeds of digital single and video sales for “If Everyone Cared” between February 1 and July 31, 2007 were donated to charity, equally distributed between Amnesty International and International Childrens’ Awareness Canada. Each of the five videos from All The Right Reasons has reached #1 on VH1′s playlist: “Photograph,” “Savin’ Me,” “Far Away,” “If Everyone Cared” and “Rockstar.” In 2006 Nickelback was awarded a World Music Award for “World’s Best Rock Group,” a Billboard Touring Award for “Breakthrough Artist,” an American Music Award for “Favorite Pop/Rock Album” and a People’s Choice Award for “Best Rock Group.”

Album Review: Eardrum Talib Kweli

If you know good hip-hop then you know the name, Talib Kweli. Coined as a conscious rapper, his name means seeker of truth and knowledge.   Talib Kweli  is an educated rapper, raps with a purpose and has been described as the last of a dying a breed.

 

To provide you a bit of history, Talib Kweli started out in a group called Black star formed with another hip hop star Mos Def. Talib Kweli and Mos def spilt to pursue there solo careers both making a name for themselves in hip-hop.

 

Talib completed his latest album, Eardrum in 2007; this is his third solo album. Eardrum featured big name artists like Kanye West, UGK, Lyfe Jenning, Will.I.AM, Musiq Soulchild, and Justin Timberlake plus many more. The whole album flows together with Talib rapping over the melodic beats. His rhymes are thought provoking and delve you in issues like religion, world poverty, and of course hip-hop. The song they released as the single was ‘Hot Thing’ produced and featuring Will.I.AM. ‘Hot Thing’ was probably more on the commercial side compare to the rest of the album. Some songs you may find repeat worthy are; ‘In the Mood’ featuring Kanye West and Roy Ayers, ‘Soon the New Day’ featuring Norah Jones, ‘Oh my Stars’ featuring Musiq Soulchild.  Talib Kweli makes you remember what real hip-hop is.

 

Talib Kweli will be releasing a part two of reflection eternal with Hi-Tek Reflection eternal back again. The single for the album ‘Back Again’ is now on Itunes and the official video has already been released. There is no set release date for Reflection Eternal Back Again but will be coming out soon. Until then keep listening to Eardrum there’s plenty to enjoy!

 

I give 4 stars

 

For More Talib Kweli

Talib Kwelis Website

Talib Kweli’s  Myspace

Talib Kweli’s Last.fm

iTunes To Be Forced to Drop Prices to Compete with TunesPro

Music is the voice of the soul, or so it is said. But the distribution of our spiritual voice has become increasingly complex in recent years with the growth of the online market. The medium that once relied on physical media like Vinyl and CDs has crossed the border, beyond the need for a physical storage device and into the digital era.

As dedicated music lovers continue to add to their collection of records and CDs, the majority of people prefer to buy their music online. In any discussion of music sales, iTunes is the elephant in the room. Apple has created the premier music destination with their digital music catalog and brand named iconic iPods.

While iTunes is unquestionably the industry’s leader in terms of market share, the site no longer offers the best value for money to the consumer. Newer cheaper competitors are beginning to emerge that are basing their business model on a more affordable and widely accessible price point.

An example of a new mp3 website gaining popularity is TunesPro.com who just after launching offers individual songs for $0.19 while full albums are sold for as little as $2.00.

Meanwhile, the average song on iTunes continues to sell for $1.29, which up until now has been low enough to appeal to consumers deterred by the high prices charged for full album CDs.

This newer type of business model being pursued by Apple’s competitors is heavily reliant on broadening the consumer base yet it remains to be seen if it’s a realistic concept. Contingent upon results, it is likely that we will see an implosion reminiscent of the dot-com bust.

Ultimately the market will determine if the TunesPro strategy is economically viable, however if more digital song competition arrives charging a fraction of the current music costs, iTunes will be forced to lower their prices accordingly.

One thing is for sure, if you’ve been on the fence about buying your favorite musician’s latest album then there has never been a better time to get it cheaply.

Album Review: V.I.C

Disappointing, Disgusted, and I Disapprove and a bunch of other “diss”es I have to discuss with this V.I.C Beast album.

 

What does V.I.C. even stand for you ask? It’s an acronym with a meaning no where to be found, except that it may be short for his name Victor Owusu. Born in New York and raised in Atlanta, this 22 year old says his music is a hybrid between witty battle rhymes and southern party music. V.I.C is signed with Warner Brother Records and has worked with big name artists Soulja Boy Tell ’Em, Hurricane Chris, E-40 and few others that jumped on the hit ‘Get Silly Remix’. ‘Beast’ is the first album for V.I.C. and Get Silly, his first single, was a dance craze hit. Many confused him with Soulja Boy Tell ’Em, a featured artist on the remix, as the main artist of ‘Get Silly’. With an album like ‘Beast’, V.I.C. sounds like a one hit wonder.

 

The album starts out with heavy breathing and then drops the beat hard with chants of “I’m a Beast”. He continues this animal theme in the next track, with a person trying and failing to impersonate an Australian accent talking about mating rituals. There are also two other skits that carry out this same theme. The skits were not entertaining or funny, and could have been left out. The songs that were put on the album just didn’t flow together. Songs “Get Silly, “We Ridin” a song sampling the batman theme song, “Wobble” and “Duck Off”. These were more dance party songs for teens.  Then there were songs on the album that were decidedly more adult, with lyrics like, “Beat that” with the hook that rings, “I don’t let the p***y beat me up I beat that p***y”, and “Blow my mind” all about sexually pleasing a woman. Dance songs for teens and overtly sexual songs just don’t seem to go together on one album.

 

Overall he had some really great beats on the album. Too bad his nasally rap tone and odd emphasis on words ruined the majority of the songs on the album. “Get Silly” was the only hit on the album and that’s because superstar Soulja boy hopped on the Remix. This is definitely not an album I would listen to twice. I give 1 star : ( 

Weezer come to Phoenix January 15!

Live Nation and FM 103.9 present

WEEZER

FRIday, JANUARY 15

 (Phoenix, AZ) – Rocks most loveable outsiders, Weezer, bring their alt-rock to Dodge  Theatre January 15 at 8:00 p.m. in support of the bands November 3 release Raditude.

With its rollicking communal spirit Raditude upends any expectations audiences may have of Weezer, amplifying their trademarks to a dizzying degree – the pop hooks dig deeper, the rock hits so hard it bruises – but the group subverts these signatures with a sly hand while pushing boldly into new territory. Within these 10 songs lie boundless possibilities and ceaseless excitement, proof that Weezer remains a band that defies easy summations and can never be taken for granted, a band who has grown as they’ve opened their horizons. 

Raditude caps off a remarkable decade that saw Weezer reassert its position as one of the biggest, best rock bands in the world while also seeing their influence echo through a generation who absorbed the sound and feel of the group’s two classic ‘90s albums. Weezer emerged on the music scene in 1994 with their self-titled double-platinum debut album, dubbed The Blue Album featuring such era-defining hits as “Undone—The Sweater Song” and “Buddy Holly”.  The bands much-awaited sophomore album Pinkerton (1996) — “El Scorcho”, “The Good Life”, and “Pink Triangle”— went gold in record sales and has been a steady seller since.

Weezer refused to ride on those past glories when they returned in 2001 with The Green Album, sounding vigorous on the hits “Hash Pipe” and “Island in the Sun.” The hard, heavy Maladroit, featuring “Dope Nose” and “Keep Fishin’,” followed in 2002. Three years later, Weezer released Make Believe in 2005, an album highlighted by “Beverly Hills,” their first single to climb into the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The Red Album arrived in 2008 along with the single “Pork and Beans” whose YouTube-satirizing video won Weezer their first Grammy.

TICKETS ON-SALE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 AT 10 A.M.

Concert Review: Kelly Clarkson Arizona State Fair

The Kelly Clarkson concert at the Arizona State Fair was packed on Saturday November 7^th.  It was a mission to get to the concert, which included the daunting challenge to find parking at the Arizona State Fair and a hike through the packed fair to get to the stadium.  

 

Kelly Clarkson began the night with her album titled song “All I Ever Wanted” the crowd was pumped and ready to go. Keeping the energy going she sang “Miss Independent”. The stage production of the show was blinking fun colorful arrays of violet-blue, red, yellow, blue, and pink lights. The lights were slightly blinding but simple enough to just focus on Kelly’s pure talent.

 

Clarkson dazzled the crowd, when she performed an acoustic cover song called “Lies by the Black Keys” followed up by a country song by Patsy Cline “After Midnight.” Clarkson’s vocals were amazing as the filled the venue! The crowd loved the country vibe and went wild for the trumpet solo in the song and had the whole crowd clapping to the beat. After the song ended they cut all stage production and did an acoustic version of “Hazel Eyes” with the audience, where Clarkson had the crowd singing parts of the chorus as the lights switched from the stage to the crowd, cuing them to belt it out.

 

To close out the end of her set, Clarkson sang her hits “Because of You”, “Walk away”, and “Since You Been Gone”. By this point in the show the majority of the crowd was on their feet jumping up and down, hands high in the air, and belting out Clarkson’s lyrics with her. Clarkson rejoiced at how great the crowd was and thanked them for being so great. The last song of the set was “My Life Would Suck” and the crowd was still dancing by the end of the concert. The show ended around an hour and half long and the crowd seem to love Kelly Clarkson by the end.

 

The show was mode chic and focused on the music. Audience members from little kids to mid-twenties men and old ladies seemed to walk away from the concert satisfied if not wanting more. Clarkson didn’t need dramatic effects or a theme behind her tour because her talent in itself will blow you away! 

 

The mission was well worth it and after seeing her performance you have a complete understanding of why she was the American Idol winner. 

Artist of the Month: We the Kings

We the Kings American pop-punk band is making a big splash in the music scene! These Kings are the new teenage heartthrobs serenading us with lyrics like “Heaven can wait up high in the sky it’s you and I.” Talented and under 25 they have already released a self-titled album back in 2007. Their new single Heaven Can wait is now out with a new video premiering on MTV. Their second highly anticipated album Smile, Kid is to be released on December 8^th.  If you haven’t heard about them by now, you will soon!

 

We the Kings grew up in Bradenton, Florida and got there name from their middle school they attended King Middle school. We the Kings have four band members ranging in ages 19-22; Travis Clark standing out not only because of his red hair, but for his awesome vocals. Hunter Thomsen guitar and backing vocals and Drew Thomson bass player are brothers. While Danny Duncan bangs out the drums. The band attributes their musical performance blend to Jimmy Eat world and Third Eye Blind. Determined to make music that you will still sing, long from now, and I think that We the Kings is on the right track with the catchy melodies that are easy to sing along to.

 

Five Crown Points that make them the Kings of the Month

• They are young and upcoming Artist
• New single and video for heaven can wait is Awesome
• New album Smile, Kid comes out in December
• They are on tour Glamour Kills Tour with All time low, Hey Monday, and Friday Night boys.
• In Phoenix 11.05.09 at the Marquee theater
• You won’t be able to stop singing their songs!

 

Check We the Kings out for yourself at: http://www.myspace.com/wethekings