Month: June 2011

Adele Reschedules Concert Dates

MaxK

English nu-soul sensation Adele (born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins) has announced make-up shows for dates she cancelled earlier due to a bout of laryngitis. The singer, whose Amy Winehouse-esque brand of retro soul has captivated fans worldwide, was forced to put her North American tour on hold when her doctors told her that a few days of rest just wouldn’t cut it.

Via her official site, here’s Adele’s rescheduled 2011 tour dates:

AUGUST 2011

Tue 9 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theatre
Thu 11 – Troutdale, OR – Edgefield *VENUE CHANGE
Fri 12 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
Sun 14 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre
Mon 15 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
Wed 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Palladium
Thu 18 – San Diego, CA – Open Air Theater *VENUE CHANGE
Sat 20 – Las Vegas, NV – The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas: Chelsea Ballroom
Sun 21 – Salt Lake City, UT – Gallivan Center *VENUE CHANGE
Wed 24 – Saint Paul, MN – Theatre at Xcel Energy Center *VENUE CHANGE

OCTOBER 2011

Fri 7 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata Spa & Resort: Event Center
Sat 8 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
Mon10 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
Tue 11 – Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Thu 13 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
Fri 14 – Miami, FL – Waterfront Theater at American Airlines Arena
Sun 16 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre *VENUE CHANGE
Tue 18 – Spring, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Wed 19 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center *VENUE CHANGE
Fri 21 – Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie *VENUE CHANGE

Amy Winehouse Cancels 2011 European Tour

MaxK

In a move which many fans were expecting after her recent performance in Belgrade, Amy Winehouse has cancelled the remaining dates for her 2011 European tour. The tour, originally planned to go through mid-August and see her perform in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland, would no doubt have disappointed fans a few weeks ago. After her disastrous Belgrade performances, though, many fans are willing to wait, in the interest of a better show, for the troubled diva to take time off and (as her spokesperson said) “return to her best.”

Videos from the Belgrade show are strange to watch. It’s not that Amy’s a bad singer–she manages to hit most of the notes, and her unique, powerful voice usually shines. When she actually sings, that is. While her band (which is absolutely fantastic, by the way) powers through the songs, she sings intermittently, sometimes relying on the audience to sing while she just smiles and scratches her arms, sometimes wandering away from the microphone as though she completely forgot she was performing in front of hundreds of people. There’s a telling moment, partway through “Valerie,” when, after nodding her head and grinning while the audience sings the song for her, she grabs one of her backup singers and, without missing a beat, he does the verse flawlessly. It’s kind of disappointing: everything is in place for a fantastic show, but Amy is just too messed up to perform. It does suggest, though, that if and when Amy gets herself back together, her next tour will be absolutely amazing.

Well, That’s Terrifying: Weird Al Does Lady GaGa

MaxK

Here it is, the music video which almost never was (quick recap–Gaga’s management didn’t like it, Weird Al got bummed out and put it on the Net for free, Gaga heard about it and gave him official permission):Weird Al’s surprisingly nice parody of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Thanks to a bunch of convincingly weird outfits and some slick CGI, the 51-year-old Yankovic looks a whole lot like the 25-year-old Gaga (well, if you squint, at least). Disturbing? Genius? Both? Let us know in the comments!

Video is after the jump.

Read More

Foo Fighters Announce 2011 Tour, Canada Dates

MaxK

After the release of their new album Wasting Light, Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters are taking their aggressive, catchy music on tour. The band plays Vancouver October 25 at Rogers Arena and visits Calgary on the 27th and Edmonton on the 28th. East Coast fans get to experience the band earlier: Foo Fighters play Toronto August 9th at the Air Canada Centre and Montreal August 10 at Bell Centre.

Watch Foo Fighters play their entire new record in a live session from Studio 606:

Summer Live: Massive Free Concert in Vancouver

MaxK

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding, the City of Vancouver is hosting a free, weekend-long party and music festival featuring a boatload of Vancouver musicians. Some of them have been famous for decades, others are underground artists with a cult following, but all of them are well worth checking out.

Here’s a few we’re particularly excited for.

Mother Mother is a power-pop group from Vancouver, but frontman Ryan Guldemond’s distinctive voice, as well as the slightly morbid nature of their songs, sets them apart from other indie bands. Excellent musicianship, intricate vocal harmonies, and catchy songs make them a perennial favorite.

Check out their track “Arms Tonite” for an idea of what they’re about. Like many bands, their live show is better, but this track is pretty great.

Fond of Tigers won a Juno Award in 2010, but they’ve also won the hearts and minds of listeners unafraid of getting a little weird. Consisting of founding member Stephen Lyon and a host of extremely talented supporting musicians (two drummers! TWO!), the group plays music which oscillates wildly between jazz and indie rock, between dreamy guitar noodling and furious cacophonies. While their songs are tricky to sing along with, Fond of Tigers are well worth seeing for the immense skills of their members.

Listen to “Soheb,” a track from their latest album:

The New Pornographers are accessible, fun, and have released a string of great albums showcasing songs packed full of hooks which wouldn’t be out of place in a Beach Boys or Beatles song. The band is sort of an indie-rock supergroup (the band includes A.C. Newman, Neko Case, and Dan Bejar, the founding member of Destroyer), but are world-famous on their own.

Listen to their song “Challengers”:

No Doubt, Dave Grohl, and Norah Jones do McCartney

MaxK

With all the Canucks fever around here, we’ve gotten a bit sidetracked from writing about sweet, sweet music. Here’s a gem to tide you over until Vancouver wins the Stanley Cup: a whole mess of artists including No Doubt, Dave Grohl, and Norah Jones paying tribute to Paul McCartney via live renditions of his songs (both with the Beatles and with Wings/solo). “Penny Lane” is especially good.

Via Aux.tv: