U2 end tour in Canada

Report concert U2 in Canada. U2 have brought their record-breaking '360' tour to a close in Canada after two years.

The band celebrated the end of their $736m (£447m)-grossing jaunt before a crowd of 75,000 at Moncton, New Brunswick on Saturday.

'360' was named the highest-grossing tour ever back in April, overtaking the $558m (£340m) tally set by the Rolling Stones in 2007.

Before taking their final bow, U2 frontman Bono sprayed champagne across the front rows of the audience and declared: "This is the best time we could be having anywhere."

In addition to performing some of their more notable hits such as 'Beautiful Day' and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' at the date, U2 included their cover of folk song 'The Ballad Of Springhill' in honour of the nearby town devastated by a string of mining disasters over the last two centuries.

The song was originally performed by the band at fifteen shows on their 'Joshua Tree' tour in 1987.

U2 have played for over seven million fans in 30 countries since launching the '360' tour in June 2009.

The success of the concert series saw the band top this year's Forbes music rich list ahead of Bon Jovi, Elton John and Lady GaGa.


(digital spy)

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Posted in: concert,pop,rock,tour,u2

ACDC Next Album

AC/DC's next studio album will be exclusively sold at Wal-Mart stores in the United States, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The as-yet-untitled Columbia album, which, as previously reported, was produced by Brendan O'Brien, is expected in the fall.

AC/DC becomes the latest veteran act to pact exclusively with the retail giant, following Garth Brooks, the Eagles and Journey. The Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden," released last summer, has been an enormous success, having sold more than 2.98 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The new AC/DC album is the legendary hard rock act's first since 2000's "Stiff Upper Lip," which has shifted more than 930,000 copies. A tour is expected to follow its release.

AC/DC is one of the only major acts yet to make its music available via Apple's iTunes Music Store. In August 2007, Verizon Wireless snagged the exclusive rights to sell the band's entire back catalog through March 2008, becoming the first and only digital music store to offer AC/DC's content.

However, the deal was limited to full-album downloads, one of the reason's AC/DC's music has not appeared in digital form to date. Since full album downloads are too large and too expensive to sell from mobile phones, Verizon only sold them from the PC version of its VCast Music service for $12 an album.

Both Columbia and Wal-Mart declined comment to the Journal.

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Posted in: AC/DC,album,rock

Vedder, Flea & Cyrus Remember Nirvana’s Nevermind

Eddie Vedder, Flea, R.E.M’s Peter Buck and even Billy Ray Cyrus have paid tribute to Nirvana’s Nevermind as part of a Spin magazine special to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the iconic album’s release.

Vedder reveals he can no longer listen to the 1991 album because it’s “too difficult”, while Flea recalls it came out on the same day as Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik – and took a lot of radio play away from his band.

Buck remembers Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and his bandmates staying at his house in Athens, Georgia following a local gig a month after the album had become an instant cult hit, adding, “It’s hard to believe that in the year Nevermind was released, they weren’t the biggest band in the world… I had them stay at my house; they didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

But the oddest tribute comes from Achy Breaky Heart hitmaker Cyrus, who recalls living in his Chevy Beretta car when the album hit stores.

He says, “I was 29, my life had fallen apart – I was going through a divorce, losing my home and my cat. It was the background music for the drama unfolding in my world.”

Cyrus admits he and Cobain became unlikely friends after meeting on the road in between shows, and he was thrilled when his daughter Miley decided to cover Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit track from Nevermind on tour in South America.

He adds, “The crowd just went crazy and I thought, ‘How beautiful, man,’ because I do believe Kurt’s spirit is very much still on this earth, through his fans and his music.

“I did have a very surreal moment watching my little girl do their song, realising, ‘Wow, these kids are singing along to this in English, every word. And I’m sure that Kurt loves it.”

Others offering up tributes to Cobain and his music in the Spin special include Ray Davies, Henry Rollins, the Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, Mark Ronson, Nikki Sixx and Sammy Hagar.

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Posted in: album,Nirvana,rock

30 Seconds to Mars Biography

Formed in 1998 by frontman Jared Leto and his older brother, 30 Seconds to Mars found success in the 2000s with a mix of post-grunge, screamo, and hard rock. The band gained a modest audience with its debut album, but it was the platinum-selling sophomore effort A Beautiful Lie that officially opened the flood gates in 2005, securing the band a frequent presence on MTV while paving the way for a number of successful tours. By placing all-access passes into 12 copies of the album, the bandmates also showed a savvy appreciation for marketing, which they revisited several years later by putting fans' photographs on the cover of their third album, This Is War.

Initially known for his work as an actor (most notably on the '90s TV drama My So-Called Life, as well as movies like Requiem for a Dream and Fight Club), Jared Leto decided to flex his musical muscles as he approached his 30s. He enlisted the help of his brother, drummer Shannon Leto, and co-founded 30 Seconds to Mars in 1998. The group made its studio debut four years later, releasing a self-titled album whose post-grunge sound showed an affinity for groups like Chevelle and Incubus. Although only modestly successful, the album convinced the bandmates to continue making music in spite of Jared Leto's busy acting schedule, which had filled up with roles in Panic Room, Highway, American Pyscho, and Requiem for a Dream.

It took three years to record A Beautiful Lie, with the bandmates traveling to four different continents to work with Leto on his movie sets. Released in 2005, A Beautiful Lie widened the band's sound by sampling from metal, neo-prog, and screamo. It also expanded the group's audience by going platinum in America, reaching gold status in several foreign countries, and spawning two Top 10 modern rock hits. 30 Seconds to Mars toured heavily as a result, sporting a new lineup that included lead guitarist Tomo Milicevic and bassist Matt Wachter (both of whom had also contributed to the album) in addition to the two Letos. Although Wachter threw in the towel in 2007, the band continued to tour around the world for the rest of that year, making stops at several major festivals (Roskilde, Pinkpop, Download) and opening shows for bands like the Used and Linkin Park.

Despite their growing momentum, 30 Seconds to Mars soon found themselves at war with their label, EMI/Virgin Records. The band had attempted to sign with a new label after the Beautiful Lie tour, prompting EMI to file a lawsuit for 30 million, claiming that 30 Seconds to Mars was contractually obligated to produce three more albums before signing with another company. The legal dust settled as the band relented and returned to EMI's roster, and This Is War -- the band's third album, not to mention a stylistic return to the sound of their self-titled debut -- arrived in December 2009. To encourage audience participation, the band solicited photographs from their fans, the first 2,000 of which were used to create the album's 2,000 different covers. Andrew Leahey, Rovi

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Posted in: 30 Seconds to Mars Biography,Biography,rock,Thirty Seconds To Mars

Red Hot Chili Peppers return with new single 'The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie'

The last time the Red Hot Chili Peppers released a debut single from a forthcoming album, Barack Obama was still a freshman senator, Rebecca Black was only nine years old, and the music world was irrationally obsessed with Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day.”

Today Obama is president, Black is a pop star, and people remember Susan Powter better than they remember Daniel. And in the middle of it all, the Red Hot Chili Peppers remain steadfast. Sure, they have a new guitarist (longtime collaborator Josh Klinghoffer, replacing the once-again-departed John Frusciante), but if their new single “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” (the first track from their end-of-summer album I’m With You) is any indication, things are still cool in Pepperland.

Sticking with the same mid-tempo groove that colored recent successes like “Dani California” and “Can’t Stop,” “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” lays out a checklist for RHCP hits. Extra-funky Flea bassline? Check. Easy walking drum beat? Yup. Complementary shards of funk guitar? Indeed. Chaise-lounge philosophizing care of Anthony Kiedis? Of course. A heaping ton of cow bell? Yes and yes.

And yet something might be missing. Maybe the chorus isn’t as big as past hits, or perhaps the “Hey now” in the hook evokes too many memories of the sleepy “Snow (Hey Oh).” Still, it does feel like a back-to-basics return for the band after the circus rock excesses of their 2006 double album Stadium Arcadium, and any time the Chili Peppers take a step back (as they did on the now-classic 1999 album Californication), good things tend to happen. “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” is no “Scar Tissue,” but the groove still feels good.

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Posted in: album,new song,punk,Red Hot Chili Peppers,rock

Watch A Sneak Peek Of 'Hurricane' From Thirty Seconds To Mars' 'MTV Unplugged' Performance

Credit: Picture Group/ MTV

This past May, Thirty Seconds To Mars, MTV, and a few dozen very lucky members of the Echelon (and, not to mention, a gospel choir) came together in New York City for the band's much-anticipated "MTV Unplugged" performance, presented by Starburst. But this was far from just any regular concert, or even your average up-close-and-personal, stripped-down approach to a live performance. Ask any member of the Echelon, and they'll tell you; Thirty Seconds To Mars' "MTV Unplugged" performance was nothing short of a tent revival reckoning, with the audience -- sitting on a set dressed to resemble a church, candles and pews included -- singing along in perfect harmony, rapt by the band's almost-holy re-imaginings of Thirty Seconds To Mars songs like "Kings And Queens," "Closer To The Edge," "Night Of The Hunter," and "Hurricane." The line between the suggestion of a house of worship and an actual religious experience was, indeed, blurred.

Thirty Seconds To Mars' "MTV Unplugged" performance will finally air on Tuesday, July 19 at 8pm ET on MTV.com. But before that, we've got an exclusive sneak peek of Thirty Seconds To Mars' "MTV Unplugged" performance of "Hurricane." Watch it below, and stay tuned for more sneak peeks of Thirty Seconds To Mars' "MTV Unplugged" performance -- including photos and interviews -- before the show premieres.

+ Watch a sneak peek of Thirty Seconds To Mars' "MTV Unplugged" performance of "Hurricane."

 

 

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Posted in: rock,Thirty Seconds To Mars