Tag: Public Appearances

“American Idiot” Premieres This Week

Posted by Kat – April 18, 2010

If you’re like me, you’ve been a fan of Green Day for quite some time, and even if you weren’t a huge fan, you at least knew who they were. And when the album “American Idiot” came out in 2004, you knew it was a good one. You didn’t even have to really like their previous stuff to find something on the new album that really hit home. Whether it was the title song or “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” the album really seemed to strike at the core of just about anyone. And for Michael Mayer, what struck him was inspiration. It was clearly a rock opera just waiting to hit the stage, and after a few years of inspiration and collaboration, it premiered at the Berkeley Reperatory Theatre back in 2009. But this year, it finally really hit the big times, as it made its way to Broadway. It’s going to be opening this week on Broadway with almost all of the same cast from the original production, and the clamoring from Green Day fans is almost impossible to ignore.

The previews from last week have been jam-packed for this one-act musical that features almost no dialogue, instead using the music to tell the story of the main character, “Jesus of Suburbia”, who is named Johnny in the musical, as he and his friends try to escape their suburban life in favor of something else. One of the friends never even makes it through the starting gates, and yet another finds himself going to war. Johnny himself finds drugs and a girlfriend, and he crashes hard.

It’s a great story, and it’s clearly been thought through a great deal by both Mayer and Armstrong, the lead of the band itself. “American Idiot”, the album, and the follow up to it, “21st Century Breakdown,” are the albums used to create a rock opera unlike most others, and it’s definitely worth seeing.

One Brick In the Wall For The Tour

Posted by Kat – April 12, 2010

If you grew up with parents who loved Pink Floyd like I did, or you were a fan yourself but never got to see the epic album “The Wall” while they were originally doing their tour, you can at least get a little bit of the experience all over again, as Roger Waters has announced the official tour dates for his 2010 to 2011 “The Wall” tour. This tour of North America will consist of 36 separate dates and will begin on September 15th in Vancouver, wrapping up in Anaheim on December 13th of 2011. You’re talking a full 16 month-long tour of an album from 1979 that was only performed 31 separate times. Pink Floyd had their ’80 to ’81 tour that was limited in London, New York, Los Angeles, and West Germany, and then in 1990 Waters held an all-star concert to commemorate ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

This isn’t the first time Waters has been running through the old repertoire, as it were. In 2007 and 2008, he was playing all of “The Dark Side of the Moon” for his concert (and I hear that album syncs up remarkably well with The Wizard of Oz, too. That would be a concert!) and now will take on “The Wall.” Eventually, it’s going to Europe after North America, but there are no details just yet on how that will happen. As for the concert itself, fans won’t be disappointed. The show will be modern and using all the best tech, with a wall 35 feet high and 240 feet wide that will be constructed and then torn down through the performance. There are expected to be a great deal of props and special effects, too. At 2 PM Eastern Time today, you can expect the website to have been relaunched with information on ticket sales, but I’m sure they’re gonna go fast.

Just how quickly do I think they’ll be out of tickets? Well, look at the album itself. You’re talking an album that spent 15 weeks on top of the charts and was 23 times platinum, as well as winning a Grammy. Mix that with some of the most haunting music and catchy lyrics (“We don’t need no education”) and you’ve got the recipe for a cultural phenomenon.

Whitney’s Respiratory Infection Sparks the Paparazzi

Posted by Kat – April 10, 2010

It seems like a year can’t go by without there being some mention of Whitney Houston and substance abuse, and it looks like April is the month for this year. On Wednesday, after being released from a hospital in Paris due to a serious respiratory infection, the press was right there to find out if Houston had been abusing all over again. Her response to the paparazzi? The claims were “ridiculous” and in fact, she feels fantastic and is ready for her tour. She wants to continue travelling and performing, and she certainly doesn’t appreciate the claims, it seems.

To be fair, though, there was real concern for her health when Tuesday she was forced to be hospitalized by doctor’s. The press was eager to jump on the bandwagon that this might somehow be related to Houston’s previous abuse problems, but so far, she’s done a great job of coming back. When she came back last year with the album “I Look To You,” she had fought and conquered that addiction and after seven years of no studio work, she was out and out there with a vengeance.

But, whether or not she’s really stayed clean is the issue. She was given poor reviews during her tour while it was in Australia, as fans claimed she not only looked poorly, but sang off-key and seemed to be out of breath. Houston claims it’s allergies for this time of year, and she swears she doesn’t even read the tabloids or look at them, because she’s confident that she is truthfully clean and wants to be back in the spotlight. Let’s hope she’s telling the truth! If she isn’t, she might find herself in a worse position if she’s hospitalized again. Or, of course, she might just be having some bad international allergies.

Erykah Badu Gets No Easter Cheer For Her Video

Posted by Kat – April 4, 2010

Last time I had checked on the front of Erykah Badu’s controversial new music video shoot, where she was walking naked through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, TX, she wasn’t going to be charged. In fact, the Dallas police had stated that because no one actually called in a complaint at the time of the video shoot, they weren’t going to slap a charge on her. But, of course, leave it to someone to take things too far and to whine. A Texas woman has now filed a complaint of indecency with the Dallas police and they will be charging her with disorderly conduct. That means that in the mail, Badu’s about to get a citation for a $500 fine. Now, I have issue with this for more than one reason.

First of all, the video was shot completely in one take, and it involves her actually stripping down until she’s completely nude, where a gunshot then rings out and she crumples to the ground while what looks like blue blood then spills down onto the ground until it forms the word “groupthink.” So, you’re talking about maybe a minute of time where she is actually nude, and it was in one take. One minute, people. In my opinion, that’s guerilla theatre, and this should fall under artistic license. Regardless of if she warned the public of it, given that she didn’t and it was only her and a cameraman, she wasn’t walking around for hours on end with no clothes on shouting “Look at my boobies, children! Look at my boobies!” In fact, I’m more stuned that someone filed an indecency complaint against a woman who bared all in what is a very beautiful and non-sexual way, when it’s not like anyone files complaints against Usher for having a single where he drops the F-bomb throughout the entire chorus.

What does Badu have to say about this? She’s stunned, too. She says she’s been more naked in her lyrics and her words, and that’s where real vulnerability lies.

Linkin Park Goes 8-Bit? Well, Kinda.

Posted by Kat – April 1, 2010

One thing I do love about Linkin Park is that they are certainly in touch with what their audience loves. And sometimes, that means giving the nerds of the world a little love, and in this case, that means a fun little 8-Bit mobile game app that will soon be available for iPod Touches, iPhones and iPads everywhere called “Linkin Park’s 8-Bit Rebellion!” Having already seen a demo of the game,  I can tell you that it’s certainly not the greatest strategy game ever created for  gamers out there, but it’s a great concept because of what it will be doing. For those who get the game and beat it, they will unlock a new single by the band, “Blackbirds.” This is going to be groundbreaking, because this will be one of the first times that a major artist/band has decided to release an exclusive new track through a game application for mobile phones. It’s groundbreaking and exciting, and not just because the game is apparently going to be a lot of fun.

The new track, “Blackbirds,” is only going to be available through the game. The game is about you, the hero, trying to defeat an ‘evil HD empire’ called PixxelKorp, which has stolen all of Linkin Park’s music and it’s up to you, the hero, to get it back. Each of the different levels is based around one of the band members, and throughout the game you will be able to hear 8-bit versions of several hit songs. I can’t wait to hear the 8-bit versions of “In the End” and “Crawling.” It may make me fall in love with this band all over again.

One thing’s for sure. I’ll be one of those individuals getting the game as soon as I can, because it’s got a pretty awesome incentive.

Ricky Martin Is Out!

Posted by Kat – March 30, 2010

I’ll be honest. I could die of how not surprised I was of this news that Ricky Martin has officially come out and said “I am a fortunate homosexual man.” No offense, but if you’ve seen his dancing in “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” and given that you knew he was a boy-bander…. part of your brain MUST have gone – “He has to be. He can’t possibly NOT be!” Be that as it may, I may have had my suspicions but I wasn’t about to just stating it as fact. For one thing, as juicy as celebrity gossip is, I think there’s a point where you just don’t want to know or don’t need to know. And this was one of those times. Sure, I loved Ricky Martin’s music to a point (Although,  if I ever have to hear ‘She Bangs’ one more time, I will find William Hung and smite him), but I didn’t really need to know which way he swings.

To be fair, though, now that he has come out, I can’t help but say “Good for you!” Martin knew that his family and many of those closest to him were terrified that the cons would far outweigh the pros of him telling the public his sexual orientation. One of those concerns was for the well-being of his children, two twin boys who will grow up dealing with pressure from the press.  And part of that well-being was due to the fact that they would grow up with their father always being a point of public scrutiny, while they knew the truth.

Overall, Martin’s admission has changed little for the music world. In 2000, it was a perfectly reasonable thought to have that you thought he was gay. Now that it’s been confirmed, maybe now Martin can move on with his life. We all know the questions didn’t help his career.

“Bionic” Promises To Bring Christina Aguilera Back To the Spotlight

Posted by Kat – March 26, 2010

For those who have been wondering if Christina Aguilera’s career was going to fade softly away after her 2006 album “Back to Basics”, four years ago, and then her greatest hits album that came out in 2008, “Keeps Getting Better: A Decade of Hits,” you don’t need to wonder any longer. The fourth studio album for the pop star and diva extraordinaire will be entitled “Bionic” and is scheduled for release on June 9th. The announcement came yesterday with the added news that the first single from the album, “Not Myself Tonight,” will be premiering March 30th on her official web site. If you’d like to get a chance to hear a little bit of the song before it comes out, then today you can check out the website for an official preview of the single.
Aguilera recorded the new album from the comfort of her home studio, and so far, the descriptions of “Bionic” speak of very electronic and “organic” elements, and that the different subjects she touches on in the lyrics are from anywhere to the introspective and the playful. Aguilera herself seems excited about the new album, and thinks her fans will be, too. Her thought is that no one will expect the new sound and she hopes her fans will like it, and later tonight, we should find out what exactly this new sound is going to be like.

And Aguilera has also spoken of all the rumors that she will be collaborating with artists like Le Tigre, Sia, Ladytron, Hill & Switch, and Tricky Stewart. She has confirmed that there will be several different collaborations. The same woman who helped write the hits “Candyman” and “Hurt” from the Back to Basics album, Linda Perry, will also be writing one of the new singles for the album as well. Looks like Aguilera’s only been biding her time and is ready to make her move. Should be good.

The Case Against Michael Jackson’s Doctor Grows Explosive

Posted by Kat – March 23, 2010

The circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s death was nothing short of tragic, and it’s only gotten even more convoluted. Jackson’s doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, has now been accused of behavior that is reprehensible: he supposedly stopped performing CPR on Jackson and then didn’t call the paramedics so that he could stop and go collect different drug vials. This seems to be yet another block stacked against the doctor, as the prosecution will be following this particular trail of evidence in the involuntary manslaughter case that could really turn the tide. After all, hiding evidence is a serious offense, and the prosecution won’t be letting it go.

Alberto Alvarez, the logistics director for Jackson himself, was the one to give this statement, a full account of the events as he saw them. Coupled with two other employees of Michael Jackson who also were called and arrived at the scene, the events seem pretty damning.

According to Alvarez, he had bolted to Jackson’s room and could see Jackson lying down on the bed with an IV in his leg. His eyes were open, his mouth was slack and he didn’t seem to be coherent. Murray was performing CPR until Alvarez took over. It was after he was declared dead that Alvarez claims Murray stated he needed to go back to Jackson’s home to collect items so that no one would know what Jackson had.

Granted, this certainly isn’t set in stone. The defense lawyer for Murray has already tried to rebuke this argument, especially since Alvarez allegedly has given different accounts now of what had happened, and in that first interview, Alvarez apparently did not tell the police that Murray tried to hide things. The trail itself is going to be messy, clearly, and the evidence seems to change day by day, but one thing’s for sure, this allegation isn’t going to be the last.

South By Southwest Comes to A Close

Posted by Kat – March 21, 2010

Austin, Texas was the home of one of the most important and influential music festivals in the United States this weekend, and South By South West was an amazing experience. Even though it was rainy, cold and windy on Saturday as it came to the end of the concert, the fans didn’t really seem to care. On Thursday, March 18th, the famous Motown legend himself Smokey Robinson had been there to deliver the keynote speech and start the festival right. The crowd seemed to be a little restless the first night but as the Conference went on, the crowd and the performers only got more and more enthused.

Over the conference, several different performers were there to really bring some amazing talent and enjoyment to the concert. It was really the second day of the confererence where the fans were given the real performances, and you could see the lights go from red to green on Friday. Sadly, Alex Chilton, famous guitarist of Big Star, had passed away on Wednesday, so there were touching remembrances throughout the performance, and many of the musicians there felt a little numb by the loss. But, the audience wouldn’t let the tragedy stop the celebration of music. They were there in throngs for Stone Temple Pilots, who were finally performing together for a new album, something they hadn’t done in almost a decade. Robbie Krieger also arrived to promote a new documentary on the Doors. Cheap Trick also got to help the audience rock on.

Muse, Courtney Love, and Smokey Robinson himself were all different performers helping to keep the crowd all sorts of riled up during the concert on Friday. To bring it to a close on Saturday was Estelle and Snoop Dogg, and most touching, a full Alex Chilton tribute really brought the night to a final close.

Charlotte Church Is Planning a Comeback?

Posted by Kat – March 14, 2010

Most people remember Charlotte Church as the young classical sensation, beginning young and stunning audiences everywhere with her voice. But, the UK pop star from Wales fell off the face of the earth for a little while during her transition from child to adult artist, and for some time, people wondered if she would ever be coming back. Apparently, she has decided to do just that.  With what equates to a three million dollar deal with Power Amp Music, a major funding manager for the music industry that is headquartered in London, Charlotte Church is making a comeback to the music industry so she can record a new album and a full comeback.


Having travelled to both Wales and Nashville, Church has been working to reinvent the image of a pop artist and TV presenter to bring a new album that may be what she needs to really set herself apart from her former work. The new album is scheduled to have an autumn release and will be helmed by producer Martin Terefe, the same producer who won Grammys for his work with James Morrison, KT Tunstall and Jason Mraz, among others.


Church has still been focusing on her TV appearances as well, as she’s now going to be a key judge in the “Over the Rainbow” television program, where Andrew Lloyd Webber will be searching for the next Dorothy for a new production of “Wizard of Oz.” On top of that, she’s lost a great deal of weight and the British media’s been going crazy over that.


Most helpful for Church’s image as well is the fact that this new marketing deal with give her the freedom to still market and distribute with open discussion. So, when the fall hits and her new album breaks, we should see just where her career might go.