Talk About Rock Music

As anticipated in a recent blog article, Green Day has finally announced they will be playing a full UK tour in October to promote their new album “21st Century Breakdown”. The tour will follow on from the first leg of the band’s North American tour in August.

This UK (and European) tour will be their first in over four years. Anyone who has ever been to a Green Day gig will know exactly what they are in for – over 2 hours of relentless energy and fist-pumping rock from Billie Joe and co. The shows are sure to be a sell out, so I would advise true Green Day fans to get their tickets the minute they go on sale at 10am (BST) this Friday.

The band has scheduled ten dates concluding in my hometown Manchester on October 31st.

They will play:

October 2009
19 Glasgow SECC
20 Belfast Odyssey Arena
21 Dublin 02
23+24 London O2 Arena
26 Sheffield Arena
27+28 Birmingham LG Arena
30+31 Manchester MEN Arena

Tickets can be purchased from: www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.gigsandtours.com.

Since Green Day announced details of a massive US tour this summer (as noted in a previous post) following the release of their new album 21st Century Breakdown I have been frantically trying to find out if this tour will eventually include the UK. On the MTV website it does say that the group are expected to tour the UK this year too, but that is all I can find at the moment.

However, I was excited to hear that Green Day and Blink 182 (who toured together in 2002) are set to be approached by Festival Republic, the Leeds/Reading Festival organisers to headline next year’s festivals.

The event’s chief booker, Neil Pengelly told Rock Sound that he had spoken to both bands regarding this year’s bash but that next year would be a better fit for all concerned.

He said:

“I think that Blink-182 will be doing something over here next year and I don’t think we will see them here this year. I can’t say what Green Day want to do but I’m sure they will reveal their plans in the course of time.

“We would love to have Green Day at Reading and Leeds one year and when they are around doing festivals then I’m sure we are something they will look at.”

This year has seen a notable lack of rock emphasis giving way to indie acts. Pengelly did admit the lack of a heavy rock day in the line-up:

“It was definitely a question and something we are conscious of as we booked the rest of the bill.

“We want to keep that appeal and be as broad as possible while at the same time getting the best bands we can. Once we announce the Lock-Up Stage people will see how rounded it is.”

Green Day last played the event in 2004 and I was there – it was an amazing performance for the band. I was also there the year before when Blink 182 headlined with Linkin Park and more strangely (for a rock festival), 50 Cent.

As soon as I found out that Bruce Sprinsteen was to headline the Sunday night of the Hard Rock Calling festival I decided then and there to get day tickets for the event. I later found out that Dave Matthews Band was the support for the occasion, which I was also happy about. The South African band is huge in America but hardly known here in the UK, which surprised some of my friends living in Florida.

The day tickets for the Sunday are already completely sold out so I’m glad I was quick to get them. Earlier this month, Neil Young announced he is to follow his Glastonbury appearance by headlining the Saturday night slot of the festival, taking place on June 27th and 28th at Hyde Park in London.

Young, whose new album, ‘Fork in The Road’ will be released this coming Monday (6th April), will play the Hyde Park festival with his full band. I was actually quite tempted to get the Saturday ticket as well, especially as it was confirmed the Fleet Foxes, Ben Harper, Seasick Steve and The Pretenders will all be playing. The Gaslight Anthem will also be playing on the Sunday, although I will need to get listening to some of their music before I go.

Kings of sleaze rock, Faster Pussycat, have announce tour dates for this year!  Although I am absolutely mortified as none of the UK dates are anywhere near me and during the week when I can’t have any time off, any of you who do make it will be in for a rare treat.

I managed to see this amazing band two years ago and all I can say is Wow!  They mix old school and glam with pure sleaze rock, catchy riffs and big choruses.  Imagine the likes of Bon Jovi back to a time when they were good and multiply it by 1,000 and you come somewhere close to how brilliant this band is.

They first came into our lives back in the 80’s and toured with the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Motorhead and Alice Cooper.  They have a slightly heavier sound than they had originally, probably due to when they reformed back in 2001 with a slightly different line-up which in my opinion, has made them even better.

Here are the dates for all you luck people who are want to go and see them.

Mon 19th Jan - London, United Kingdom - The Underworld
Wed 21st Jan -  Dudley, United Kingdom - JBs
Thu 22nd Jan -  Sheffield, United Kingdom - Corporation
Fri 23rd Jan -  Leeds, United Kingdom - Rio’s
Sat 24th Jan -  Argelato, Italy - Que Meo Meo
Sun 25th Jan -  Rome, Italy - Jailbreak Club
Tue 27th Jan -  Uster, Switzerland - Rock City
Thu 29th Jan -  La Roca, Spain - La Nau
Fri 30th Jan -  Bilbao, Spain - Rock Star

OK guys and girls.  They have announced the UK leg of the tour!!  Here are the Nickelback UK 2009 tour dates as promised.

22nd May 2009 Manchester Evening News Arena
22nd May 2009 SECC Glasgow
26th May 2009 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
28th May 2009 O2 Arena London

As far as I can see, tickets have not gone on sale yet but they will probably be the usual vendors like Ticketmaster and See Tickets but I’ll come back with more information when I have it later on.

The support acts have not yet been announced either but if they are half as good as the support for the US tour, we are in for a treat!!  Seether and Saving Able will be helping the boys jeer up the crowd.

So, for those of you going to the UK leg of the Dark Horse Tour next year, what do you want to see the boys perform and what is your favourite live song by them to date?

Nickelback have finally announced the first leg of their Dark Horse tour so you eager Nickelback fans can book it in your diaries and make sure you have the time off work, school, college, anniversaries and all that!!

This is a Live Nation Tour so you can buy tickets from December 5th 2008 at the Live Nation Site.

The tour kicks off on the 25th February and support acts Seether and Saving Abel have been confirmed as support acts.

Fanclub members can buy presale tickets from 28th November - yes thats in 2 days!! - by logging into the fan club website.  If you are not yet a fan club member, join now to get access to the early tickets and you also get some other freebies and offers which are well worth the one off payment.

If you are a Citi card holder, you will be able to buy tickets from the 1st December by logging in to the Citipress site.

The following dates have been confirmed:

Wed/Feb-25 - Nashville, TN - Sommet Center - Sat/Dec 13
Fri/Feb-27 - Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Sat/Feb-28 - Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Mon/Mar-02 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre - Fri/Dec 5
Tue/Mar-03 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum - Fri/Dec 5
Thu/Mar-05 - Worcester, MA - DSU Center - Sat/Dec 13
Fri/Mar-06 - East Rutherford, NJ - IZOD Center - Sat/Dec 13
Sun/Mar-08 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun  Arena - Sat/Dec13
Mon/Mar-09 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center - Sat/Dec 13
Wed/Mar-11 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Thu/Mar-12 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Sat/Mar-14 - Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center - Sat/Dec 13
Sun/Mar-15 - Moline, IL - i Wireless Center - Sat/Dec 13
Tue/Mar-17 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center - Sat/Dec 13
Wed/Mar-18 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Wed/Apr-01 - Edmonton, AL - Rexall Centre - Fri/Dec 5
Thu/Apr-02 - Calgary, AL - Pengrowth Saddledome - Fri/Dec 5
Sat/Apr-04 - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre - Fri/Dec 5
Sun/Apr-05 - Winnipeg, MT - MTS Centre - Fri/Dec 5
Tue/Apr-07 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center - Sat/Dec 13
Wed/Apr-08 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center - Sat/Dec 13
Fri/Apr-10 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center - Sat/Dec 6
Mon/Apr-13 - Bossier City, LA - CenturyTel Center - Sat/Dec 13
Tue/Apr-14 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center - Sat/Dec 6
Thu/Apr-16 - Houston - Toyota Center - Sat/Dec 6
Fri/Apr-17 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Sun/Apr-19 - Little Rock, AR - Alltel Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Wed/Apr-22 - Jacksonville, FL - Veterans Memorial Arena - Sat/Dec 13
Thu/Apr-23 - Columbia, SC - Colonial Life Arena - Sat/Dec 13

Good news people!  If you are anything like me and you tried getting tickets for the UK leg of the Kings of Leon tour, you would have been extremely disappointed to find out that they sold out in about half a milli second.  Alright, maybe not that quickly but they were still sold out by the time I got off by backside to find out about tickets and prices.  Well fear not my fellow lazy friends, as the Kings of Leon have now announced two arena concerts for 2009!!!

They will be rocking the house down in June next year at none other than the O2 Arena in London on the 15th and at the Manchester Evening News  Arena on the 22nd.  Tickets are going on sale this Friday which for you people who own a calender, is the 14th.

Tickets are priced at £32.50 each plus the usual rip off booking fees and you can purchase them direct at the following numbers.

15th June 2009 - London’s O2 Arena - 0844 856 0202
22nd June 2009 - Manchester’s Evening News Arena - 0844 847 8000

But make sure you wait till I’ve got tickets as I really don’t want to miss out again! (Just kidding - book away!!)

With their last album, “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”, being released in 2004, The Prodigy are set to make a sensational follow up album to be released in March 2009.  With 11 brand new tracks that may just rip your ears away from your head, the band are really excited about the new album titled, “Invaders Must Die”.  In a recent interview with Kerrang, Liam Howlett stated,

“All f*$#%£g bands say their new record’s their best, but this just feels really triumphant for us.  It’s on fire. It’s all about the three of us together and what we can do. You know what we deal with: it’s beats in a predominantly electronic style and it’s full of f&$£*d -up guitars!”

The Prodigy

Wanting to move away from all the rock, dance, metal tracks that are appearing left right and centre the band want to stir up the music industry, being one of the things that The Prodigy does best.  Rather than mixing things up by using guest vocals and crossing over with other bands, none other than Mr Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, will be jumping into the rear end of the band in the drummers position to bang out some amazing rhythms.

Dave actually emailed the band to find out if there were planning anything in the future and if he could join them on a track or two.  The track, “Run With The Wolves” is said to be the most most powerful song on the new album with all the members really going for it.

With a new album being released in March, The prodigy are also planning a tour next year with none other than Dizzy Rascal.  Dates as follows:

5th April - Cardiff International Arena
6th April - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
7th April - Glasgow SECC
9th April - Birmingham NIA
10th April - Manchester MEN Arena
11th April - Nottingham Trent FM Arena
13th April - Sheffield Arena
14th April - Brighton Centre
17th April - London Wembley Arena

Ticket sales start on the 7th November 2008 from ticketmaster.

American rockers, Black Stone Cherry, have been forced to cancel a few shows on the Rock Is Alive tour.  John Lawhon’s grandfather endured a heart attack in the week and John obviously has to be there with him and help him recover.

Black Stone Cherry

They are only cancelling 4 shows in the tour list which are Tallahassee, Hattiesburg, Beaumont and San Antonio but the support acts, Theory of a Deadman and The Parlor Mob will still be playing those dates so fans will still have a great night of rock to go to.

The following message has been posted to the fans:

“Unfortunately, we’ve been forced to cancel a few upcoming shows from the Rock Is Alive Tour. Jon Lawhon’s Grandfather has suffered a heart attack this week and Jon needs to be by his side. The cancelled dates are Tallahassee, FL, Hattiesburg, MS, Beaumont, TX, and San Antonio, TX.

“We truly HATE having to cancel shows and deeply apologize for any inconvience this may cause you. Being the southern boys we are, it’s family first with us and we hope you all understand.

“Now, we WILL be in Tampa, FL for tomorrow’s Guavaween and we will also be in Orlando on the 26th at The House of Blues.

“Although we are not able to be on the MS or TX shows, THE PARLOR MOB and THEORY OF A DEADMAN will still be there to rock your ass.

“Again, we are deeply sorry and we promise to come back and play yall’s town soon! We love you all dearly and it kills us that we won’t be melting your faces next week, but please understand where we’re coming from. If you were planning on attending those shows, we urge to go please go have a great time with Parlor Mob and Theory!

“PS… our Halloween contest is still on… so let’s see some friggin photos! ha!”

BSC are also coming to Europe and more importantly, the UK this year.  Dates as follows:

5th December - Manchester Academy
6th December - Newcastle Academy
7th December - Barrowlands Ballroom, Glasgow
9th December - Sheffield Academy
10th December - Birmingham Academy
11th December - Bristol Academy
13th December - Oxford Academy
14th December - Brixton Academy
16th Decemebr - Dublin Academy
17th December - Spring and Airbrake, Belfast

Look out North America.  The much anticipated Black Ice world tour is on it’s way to an arena near you!  AC/DC may not have toured since 2001 but they’re out to show the whole world that they’ve still got what it takes. The new tour dates coincide with the release of the band’s new album ‘Black Ice’ on the 20th of October.  The North American leg of the tour opens in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on the 28th of October and closes on the 20th of December in Charlotte, North Carolina. More dates may be added.  The highlight of this tour leg may well be the 2 night stand at Madison Square Garden on the 12th and 13th of November.  Mind you their gig at the Forum in LA on the 6th of December will be hard to top too.  The tour will then see AC/DC invading South America, Asia then Europe.  To top it all off the band will then return to the US to make a run at the major stadiums throughout Summer 2009. If you happen to be a huge AC/DC fan and can afford the airfare to the states, the tickets will be on sale from September 20th.  Here are the dates confirmed so far.
•    Wachovia Arena - Wilkes-Barre, PA         October 28
•    Allstate Arena - Chicago, IL            October 30
•    Conseco Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN    November 3
•    Palace of Auburn Hills – Detroit, MI        November 5
•    Rogers Centre - Toronto, ONT        November 7
•    TD Banknorth Garden - Boston, MA        November 9
•    Madison Square Garden - New York, NY    November 12
•    Madison Square Garden - New York, NY    November 13
•    Verizon Center - Washington, D.C        November 15
•    Wachovia Center - Philadelphia, PA        November 17
•    IZOD Center - East Rutherford, NJ        November 19
•    Schottenstein Center - Columbus, OH    November 21
•    Xcel Energy Center - Minneapolis, MN    November 23
•    Pepsi Center - Denver, CO            November 25
•    General Motors Place - Vancouver, BC    November 28
•    Key Arena - Seattle, WA            November 29
•    Tacoma Dome - Tacoma, WA        November 30
•    ORACLE Arena - Oakland, CA        December 2
•    The Forum - Los Angeles, CA        December 6
•    US Airways Center - Phoenix, AZ        December 10
•    AT&T Center - San Antonio, TX        December 12
•    Toyota Center - Houston, TX            December 14
•    Philips Arena - Atlanta, GA            December 16
•    Time Warner Cable Arena - Charlotte, NC    December 18

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…