Korn Resurrect Family Values Tour With Deftones, Stone Sour

P.S. Check out Korn Tickets and Family Values Tour Tickets here.

Eight years after creating and headlining the inaugural Family Values Tour, Korn are relaunching the traveling festival this summer with co-headliners the Deftones.

“The first [Family Values] with us on it was the best, and we just decided, let’s do this again,” Korn singer Jonathan Davis said of 1998’s outing with Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, Rammstein and Orgy.

“We’re gonna break out the old Family Values stuff we got in storage and really put on a cool show.”

Rounding out the mainstage lineup will be Stone Sour, Flyleaf and Dir En Grey, who Davis described as “this crazy Japanese band that are just out of their minds.”

For the first time, the trek will also feature a second stage, with acts to be announced soon. “We’re gonna have some hip-hop acts and some other variety stuff gong on,” Davis said during a recent studio session with Dem Franchize Boyz (see “Are Korn Coming Undone? Rockers Turn To Crunk, Acoustic Songs”). “I think it’s gonna be a really cool summer show.”

Korn are putting the value in Family Values, offering $9.99 lawn tickets at each stop on the tour, which kicks off July 27 in Virginia Beach.

“No band can go down to $9.99 and do the production and that kind of stuff that we’re doing, but the deal we did [becoming equal partners with EMI and promoters Live Nation] allows us to be able to do that, which is really cool,” Davis said. “I don’t want to slap bands for making their ticket prices so high, ’cause I understand production and that stuff costs a lot. … But Madonna’s are like 300 bucks a ticket. I can’t even believe that. Ten bucks for a show is ridiculous, and I think kids that aren’t Korn fans will wanna go just to check out other bands or just go to have a good time.”

Having a good time will also be a priority for Korn, who will balance their intense sets with a lot of backstage hanging out.

“We haven’t toured with [the Deftones] since ’97 or ’96, and we’re really excited,” Davis said. “We love those guys. We started out together. Literally it was us and them, and back in the day we used to drive to Sacramento [California] and play at their home clubs. And they would drive to Huntington Beach and play the clubs we’d play, so we’ve been friends for a long, long time, and it’s cool to be back together again and sharing the same stage.”

And the feelings are mutual, according to Deftones singer Chino Moreno.

“We’ve had a crazy relationship because we’ve always distanced ourselves from Korn so we could be our own band,” Moreno said. “Their first record came out before ours, so it was always like we were following in their footsteps. And I think we had to do that, and now it’s time to just have fun. We don’t care so much about that stuff anymore. We just want to play with friends.”

Moreno also confirmed Davis’ promise that their bands will be performing their collaboration “Wicked” onstage together. “There’s a bunch of cool stuff I want to do,” Moreno said.

Korn just finished a headlining arena trek heavy on album tracks (see “Korn Rock Hometown, Have Street Named After Them On ‘Official Korn Day'”) but are planning a much different show for the summer.

“We’re gonna bring in different songs and play for two hours,” Davis said. “That’s our new thing. We never played for two hours in our whole career. We thought we would die, but now when I get onstage, I want to do more. So it might be more, you never know.”

Deftones will be using the tour to debut new material from their fifth studio album, due in September (see “Why Is The New Deftones Album Taking So Long?”). The bandmembers just came off the Taste of Chaos Tour with Thrice and Atreyu but are looking forward to another festival (see “Taste Of Chaos ’06 Tour Dates Revealed”).

“That was weird because we were the oldest band there. You see a lot of the younger bands, and it’s just a reminder of how things are now,” Moreno said. “It was a good time, but we felt like grandparents out there sometimes.”

After 1998’s run, Family Values returned a year later with Limp Bizkit, Filter, the Crystal Method, Primus, Staind, Mobb Deep, Ja Rule, and Method Man and Redman. In 2001, Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park, Staind, Static-X and Deadsy revived the name.

Family Values Tour Dates

August

Korn Tickets August 20 – Marysville CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Korn Tickets August 24 – Bonner Springs KS – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Korn Tickets August 25 – Maryland Heights MO – UMB Bank Pavilion
Korn Tickets August 26 – East Troy WI – Alpine Valley Music Theatre

September

Korn Tickets September 1 – Holmdel NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Korn Tickets September 2 – Wantagh NY – Jones Beach Theater
Korn Tickets September 3 – Hartford CT – New England Dodge Music Center
Korn Tickets September 6 – Cleveland OH – Tower City Amphitheater
Korn Tickets September 8 – Burgettstown PA – Post Gazette Pavilion
Korn Tickets September 9 – Clarkston MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Korn Tickets September 12 – Cincinnati OH – Riverbend Music Center
Korn Tickets September 13 – Columbus OH – Germain Amphitheater
Korn Tickets September 15 – Camden NJ – Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
Korn Tickets September 17 – Bristow VA – Nissan Pavilion
Korn Tickets September 20 – West Palm Beach FL – Sound Advice Amphitheatre

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Metal File: DragonForce

In two months U.S. record stores will, at long last, be able to stock an album by British power-metallers DragonForce. While the band’s been around since 1999, the sextet’s presence in the U.S. hasn’t been felt much, considering DragonForce’s three albums – 2003’s The Valley of the Damned, 2004’s Sonic Firestorm and 2006’s Inhuman Rampage, which was issued four months back — haven’t been released here. Hell, the band has yet to set foot on American soil, so DragonForce fans here have been deprived to say the least.

But that’s all about to change, guitarist Herman Li said. Visa problems kept DragonForce from performing at New York’s CBGB club back in November, but Li said that’s not going to happen again on April 30, when the band plays its first U.S. gig at the New England Hardcore and Metal Festival. But he did warn fans that DragonForce shows aren’t like most metal shows.

“We’re famous for accidents onstage now,” he said. “We have trampolines we jump on and four different boxes of different heights, which allow us to jump in the air and spin around. Even though the music is really fast and complicated, we’re jumping in the air, playing the guitar upside down … it’s fun. We finish each tour with bruises on our legs and everything.”

Eight additional U.S. club dates have been lined up: May 2 (New York), May 3 (Philadelphia), May 4 (West Springfield, Virginia), May 5 (Cleveland), May 6 (Chicago), May 8 (Denver), May 10 (San Francisco) and May 11 (West Hollywood, California), with Protest the Hero and Sanctity. Most of those shows have already sold out, but Li did mention that the band’s working on securing a spot on an American festival tour, like Sounds of the Underground or Gigantour 2 — so fans who miss them this time around might be able to catch the ‘Force this summer. But Li said the band hopes, in time, to be headlining tours in the U.S.

First, though, there’s the matter of getting an album on store shelves. On June 20, Roadrunner Records will release Inhuman Rampage in the U.S., but DragonForce have already begun writing new material for that record’s follow-up. Fans, Li said, can expect the new stuff to be just as fast, frenetic and technically perverse.

Most of Li’s guitar stylings have been inspired by video game music, he said. In fact, on Inhuman, he tweaked and scratched the strings to create sounds he claims he borrowed from “Pac-Man.” And those sounds are difficult to replicate live.

“When we finish an album, it’s like, ‘Whoa — we’ve got to learn these songs? It’s going to be tough,’ ” Li said of the recording process. “But it’s better that way because it makes you a better player afterwards.”

Dragonforce Concert Dates

Dragonforce Tickets – 9/8/2006 – Wiltern LG – Los Angeles CA
Dragonforce Tickets – 9/9/2006 – Warfield – San Francisco CA
Dragonforce Tickets – 9/19/2006 – The Pageant – Saint Louis MO
Dragonforce Tickets – 9/22/2006 – Bogarts – Cincinatti OH
Dragonforce Tickets – 9/23/2006 – Harpos – Detroit MI

Chris Harris and Jon Wiederhorn

The sports and entertainment events described in this blog are provided as a courtesy by the Event Ticket Outlet.

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Tom Petty Readies Summer Tour

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Last summer, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ tour was one of their most successful ever, drawing manic and younger crowds that, according to Petty, sang “so loud they actually drowned us out” and included girls “throwing their underwear.” This year, the rock legend and the five-member Heartbreakers crew are heading back on the road with the Highway Companions Tour, kicking off June 9th in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Major acts — many of which typically headline amphitheaters themselves — will join Petty. The first leg will run through June and July and feature jam-band titan Trey Anastasio, followed by Pearl Jam. The Allman Brothers Band will serve as support for leg two, in July and August, while openers for leg three — slated for September and October — have yet to be announced.

Petty will also be headlining the Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 16th; Summerfest in Milwaukee, on June 29th and 30th; and the Austin City Limits Festival on September 17th.

The Highway Companions Tour may be Petty’s final major summer outing. “I think we should do this tour and then put an end to doing national tours, and just play now and then where we want to play,” Petty told Rolling Stone recently, citing his thirty years in the business. (The group released their self-titled debut in 1976.) “The idea of doing sheds or arenas . . . you turn into an animal by the time it’s done.”

In the meantime, Petty is also finishing work on Highway Companion, his third solo album and follow-up to 1994’s stoner-friendly Wildflowers. The new record is due this summer.

“It’s a quieter album than I’ve done before,” Petty said of the album, which features accompaniment from Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and fellow Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne. “I don’t think I wasted any lines on this album. I think the songs are all there.” Among the albums cuts are “Square One,” “Turn This Car Around,” “Saving Grace” and “Big Weekend” — the latter two will debut in upcoming promos for the NBA finals.

Also, filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) has begun shooting a documentary about the Heartbreakers’ history.

But with a new solo album, huge summer tour and documentary in the works, fans shouldn’t get too nervous that the fifty-five-year-old Petty will be stopping anytime soon. “The only thing keeping me from wrapping things up is just going, ‘Well, I wonder if there’s one more in me?'”

Current Tom Petty Tour Dates

Tom Petty Tickets September 14 – Chicago IL – Charter One Pavilion – Northerly Island
Tom Petty Tickets September 15 – Chicago IL – Charter One Pavilion – Northerly Island
Tom Petty Tickets September 21 – Gainesville FL – Stephen C. O’Connell Center
Tom Petty Tickets September 22 – Atlanta GA – HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
Tom Petty Tickets September 26 – Los Angeles CA – Hollywood Bowl
Tom Petty Tickets September 27 – Chula Vista CA – Coors Amphitheatre-CA
Tom Petty Tickets September 29 – Berkeley CA – Greek Theatre-Berkeley
Tom Petty Tickets September 30 – Berkeley CA – Greek Theatre-Berkeley

Charley Rogulewski

P. S. Check out Tom Petty Tickets here.

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Tool Announce North American Club Tour

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Maynard James Keenan and Tool will be spending much of this summer overseas, playing the European festival circuit. But before the band crosses into international waters — and just days after its closing set at this year’s Coachella festival in Indio, California – Tool will be crisscrossing North America, previewing material from their forthcoming album, 10,000 Days, as part of a 15-gig club trek that’s set to kick off May 2 in Seattle.

10,000 Days — the band’s fourth studio LP and its first batch of new songs in more than five years — will also be released on May 2. The follow-up to 2001’s Lateralus will boast 11 cuts, including “Jambi,” “Lipan Conjuring” and “Rosetta Stoned.” The 77-minute-long album’s first single, “Vicarious,” hit the nation’s rock radio airwaves over the weekend.

The dates for the tour were released Monday (April 17) — which also happens to be Keenan’s 42nd birthday.

Tool Tour Dates

Tool Tickets 8/22 – Vancouver British Columbia – General Motors Place
Tool Tickets 8/24 – Calgary Alberta – Pengrowth Saddledome
Tool Tickets 8/25 – Edmonton Alberta – Rexall Place
Tool Tickets 8/27 – George WA – The Gorge
Tool Tickets 8/29 – West Valley City UT – E Center
Tool Tickets 8/30 – Englewood CO – Coors Amphitheatre
Tool Tickets 9/1 – Las Vegas NV – Theatre Under The Stars
Tool Tickets 9/2 – Marysville CA – Sleep Train Amphitheater
Tool Tickets 9/3 – Oakland CA – Oakland Arena
Tool Tickets 9/5 – Bakersfield CA – Rabobank Arena
Tool Tickets 9/7 – Los Angeles CA – Staples Center
Tool Tickets 9/11 – The Woodlands TX – C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
Tool Tickets 9/12 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
Tool Tickets 9/14 – Dallas TX – American Airlines Center
Tool Tickets 9/15 – Kansas City MO – Kemper Arena
Tool Tickets 9/16 – Minneapolis MN – Target Center
Tool Tickets 9/18 – Rosemont IL – Allstate Arena
Tool Tickets 9/21 – Columbus OH – Nationwide Arena
Tool Tickets 9/22 – Auburn Hills MI – Palace of Auburn Hills
Tool Tickets 9/23 – Toronto Ontario – Molson Amphitheatre
Tool Tickets 9/25 – Cleveland OH – Wolstein Center
Tool Tickets 9/28 – Camden NJ – Tweeter Center
Tool Tickets 9/29 – Mansfield MA – Tweeter Center

Chris Harris

P.S. Check out Tool Tickets here.

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Bruce Springsteen Hits the Road

This summer Bruce Springsteen will hit U.S. ampitheaters and arenas with the brand new Seeger Sessions Band, the seventeen-member ensemble which also features his wife Patti Scialfa on vocals. The twenty-three national dates are in support of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Springsteen’s first-ever album of covers of traditional folk songs, mostly inspired by folk legend Pete Seeger. The album has been a quiet work in progress since as early as 1998, and is finally set for release April 25th.

First, Springsteen will head back to New Jersey’s Asbury Park — the namesake of his 1973 debut, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ — for a four-night April residency, followed by a headlining slot at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 30th. After a sold-out May tour in Europe, Springsteen and the Seeger Session Band will return for eighteen stateside dates, beginning May 27th in Boston.

“The album has a light, swinging, incredibly joyful sound to it — it rocks,” Springsteen’s manager, Jon Landau told Rolling Stone of We Shall Overcome. “It’s folk and old-timey instrumentation mixed with a large horn section and a big vocal-chorus sound.”

“It was a carnival ride, the sound of surprise and the pure joy of playing,” Springsteen said in a statement about recording the album. “Street corner music, parlor music, tavern music, wilderness music, circus music, church music, gutter music, it was all there waiting in those old songs, some more than one hundred years old . . . It was a way back and forward to the informality, the freeness and the eclecticism of my earliest music and then some.”

Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Session Band tour dates:

4/20: Asbury Park, NJ, Convention Hall

4/24: Asbury Park, NJ, Convention Hall

4/25: Asbury Park, NJ, Convention Hall

4/26: Asbury Park, NJ, Convention Hall

4/30: New Orleans, Fairgrounds Racetrack New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

5/27: Boston, TD Banknorth Garden (Fleet Center)

5/28: Bristow, VA, Nissan Pavilion

5/30: Columbus, OH, Germain Amphitheater

5/31: Noblesville, IN, Verizon Wireless Music Center

6/3: Glendale, AZ, Glendale Arena

6/5: Los Angeles, Greek Theatre

6/6: Concord, CA, Chronicle Pavilion

6/10: Des Moines, IA, Wells Fargo Arena

6/11: St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center

6/13: Tinley Park, IL, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

6/14: Milwaukee, Bradley Center

6/16: Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center

6/17: Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre

6/20: Camden, NJ, Tweeter Center At The Waterfront

6/21: Saratoga Springs, NY, Saratoga Performing Arts Center

6/22: New York, Madison Square Garden

6/24: Holmdel, NJ, P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

6/25: Holmdel, NJ, P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

Charley Rogulewski

The sports and entertainment events described in this blog are provided as a courtesy by the Event Ticket Outlet.

Madonna Tour Tickets Selling Quickly

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Initial ticket sales for Madonnna’s upcoming Confessions tour have been predictably huge, with shows added in several cities and virtually all dates selling out.

The tour, which begins May 21 in Los Angeles, has sold out four shows in Paris at Bercy Stadium beginning August 27, seven shows at London’s Wembley Arena beginning August 1, two shows at the 40,000-capacity Amsterdam Arena beginning September 3, and four shows in New York’s Madison Square Garden beginning June 28, as well as doubles in Los Angeles, Montreal, Miami and Chicago.

Also sold out are Las Vegas (May 27), Philadelphia (July 12), Hartford, Conn. (June 25), Phoenix (June 8) and San Jose (May 30).

Tour producer Arthur Fogel, president of Live Nation’s TNA International, told Billboard.com there had clearly been no resistance to ticket prices that range from $50 to $350. “What you have is a recognition that she creates and delivers a spectacular show every time she goes on the road,” said Fogel. “And this tour will be no different.”

With a gross potential in the $200 million range, Confessions could be the top-grossing tour ever for a female artist. In 2004, Madonna’s Re-Invention tour grossed $125 million and drew more than 900,000 fans to 56 shows.

Ray Waddell

P.S. Check out Madonna Tickets here.

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Metal File: Walls of Jericho

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Candace Kucsulain isn’t a morning person — not in the slightest. So this summer’s Ozzfest should be interesting for the tattoo-veneered singer who fronts Detroit metalcore collective Walls of Jericho.

It’s bad enough Kucsulain’s going to have to get up at the crack of dawn — she’ll also be expectedto scream at the top of her lungs for hundreds if not thousands of rabid metalheads trying to pound enough brewskis to get them through the morning. But it’s not as though she’s complaining — she’s more than willing to adjust her snoozing schedule for the greater good. It is Ozzfest, after all. “You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” she said, with a hesitant laugh.

“It’s such a huge step for us,” she added. “We have to get up there and give it our all. We have to prove ourselves [to the crowd] because there are so many great bands on Ozzfest this year. You know whoever’s playing after you will show you up, so you have to make sure you hold your own out there” — even if you’re taking the second stage at the profane hour of 9 a.m.

But a huge step it is. Walls of Jericho, she said, are used to rattling the walls of nasty dives in front of 300 kids (tops). They’re used to hitting the road crammed in rundown vans (this summer they’ll share a bus with All That Remains) and crashing on strangers’ couches. They’re all still working full-time jobs to pay the bills.

“It’s nice to think you might be able to go out, play to more kids and do this on a regular basis without worrying about those bills,” Kucsulain said. “We never even thought we’d get on Ozzfest. We’ve been together eight years, and all we want to do is make music and have people like it. Ozzfest is perfect for us, and it’s a great time to be doing it, with our record coming out — a record that we know is one of our most important, and what we’ve been putting everything we have into.”

That album, With Devils Amongst Us All, will be in stores June 27 — two days before Ozzfest kicks off in Auburn, Washington. Produced by Ben Schigel (Chimaira, Zao), it will feature about a dozen tracks, none of which have official titles yet. The band started recording the disc March 6 and wrapped things up April 4.

Before Ozzfest, the band will do a run of shows with Bullet for My Valentine and Roses Are Red as part of the Trustkill Takeover Tour. It kicks off May 12 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and winds down May 28 in Sayreville, New Jersey.

Chris Harris and Jon Wiederhorn

P.S. Check out Ozzfest Tickets here.

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Guns N’ Roses to Play New York

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When Axl Rose told Rolling Stone in January that he’d have new music for Guns N’ Roses fans this year, he wasn’t kidding. After a decade of working on Chinese Democracy, the follow-up to 1993’s platinum-selling The Spaghetti Incident, and three years away from American stages, GN’R are ready to play New York next month. Tickets for May 15th and 17th at the Hammerstein Ballroom, go on sale April 21st.

While there’s no definite word as to what music Axl and his current GN’R lineup will play live, the notoriously reclusive rocker told Rolling Stone of his new songs, “I’m trying to do something different. Some people are going to say, ‘It doesn’t sound like Axl Rose, it doesn’t sound like Guns N’ Roses.'”

Thirty-two songs — including the Axl faves “Better,” “There Was a Time” and “The Blues” — are in the works for the new album, to be narrowed down to thirteen. Versions of “Better” and “There Was a Time” were among the tracks leaked online — and, briefly, to radio — in February.

After these two U.S. dates, GN’R are also slated to play a string of dates in Europe, starting May 27th in Lisbon, Portugal.

An official release date for the now-mythical Chinese Democracy has yet to be announced.

Guns N’ Roses Concert Dates

September 2006

Guns N’ Roses Tickets September 16, 17 Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas NV
Guns N’ Roses Tickets September 20, 21 The Warfield San Francisco CA

Charley Rogulewski and Steve Baltin

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Jewel, Rob Thomas Ready Summer Trek

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jewel will launch a summer tour with fellow label-mate and Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas, on May 23rd in Clearwater, Florida. The jaunt finds Thomas supporting his first solo effort, last year’s platinum-selling chart-topper, . . . Something to Be. The Alaskan crooner will be supporting her new album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, due May 2nd.

For the follow-up to 2003’s 0304, Jewel teamed with Green Day producer Rob Cavallo, and ended up exploring a number of musical styles — from the country tinge of “Stephenville, TX” and upbeat pop of “Satellite,” to the folksy opener “Again and Again.”

Jewel programmed Alice’s thirteen songs — all recorded live — as if the album were a concert. Thinking of taking her new material on the road, she told Rolling Stone, “If I can, I’d love to play the record from top to bottom.”

As for Thomas’ solo show, he credits former collaborator Carlos Santana with helping him work up the nerve. “Carlos kind of fortified my belief that ‘Hey, I’m a songwriter, and this is what I’m supposed to do,'” Thomas told Rolling Stone after launching his first solo jaunt last spring. “And it just gave me the confidence to be able to say, ‘OK, I can step off for the next couple years and just be on my own.'”

Jewel and Rob Thomas tour dates:

5/23: Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall

5/24: Boca Raton, FL, Mizner Park Amphitheatre

5/25: Orlando, TD Waterhouse Center

5/27: Jacksonville, FL, Metropolitan Park (Rob Thomas only)

5/27: Anderson, SC, Freedom Weekend (Jewel only)

5/28: Anderson, SC, Anderson Sports Complex (Rob Thomas only)

5/28: Atlanta, Chastain Park (Jewel only)

5/29: Atlanta, Chastain Park (Rob Thomas only)

5/30: Myrtle Beach, SC, House of Blues (Jewel only)

5/31: Portsmouth, VA, Harbor Center

6/2: Atlantic City, NJ, The Borgata

6/3: Atlantic City, NJ, The Borgata

6/4: Uncasville, CT, Mohegan Sun Arena

6/7: Scranton, PA, Toyota Pavilion

6/8: Vienna, VA, Wolf Trap (Jewel only)

6/9: Boston, Bank of America Pavilion

6/10: Wantagh, NY, Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater

6/11: Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center

6/12: Cleveland, Plain Dealer Pavilion

6/13: Columbus, Promowest Pavilion

6/14: Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center

6/15: Detroit, DTE Energy Music Theatre

6/16: Niagara Falls, Niagara Fallsview Casino Theatre (Jewel only)

6/17: Chicago, Charter One Pavilion

6/18: Minneapolis, MN, Northrop Auditorium

6/20: Nashville, Gaylord Entertainment Center

6/21: Birmingham, AL, Verizon Wireless Music Center

6/23: Austin, TX, The Backyard

6/24: Spring, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

6/25: Hidalgo, TX, Dodge Arena

6/28: Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre

7/1: Anaheim, CA, The Theatre at Arrowhead Pond

7/2: Santa Barbara, CA, Santa Barbara Bowl

7/5: San Diego, Bayside Concerts

7/7: Murphys, CA, Ironstone Amphitheatre (Rob Thomas only)

7/8: Kelseyville, CA, Konocti Field Amphitheatre (Rob Thomas only)

Jessica Robertson

The entertainment events described in this blog are provided courtesy of the Event Ticket Outlet

Bon Jovi Happy to Be on the Road

Check out Bon Jovi Tickets here.

It might seem a bit odd to head off on an international tour when your lead guitarist is nursing a broken arm and you’ve got a hit called “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” rising up the charts.

But, hey, this is Bon Jovi.

“We’re working the world with a new record,” lead singer Jon Bon Jovi said in an interview Friday in Tokyo, where the band was to kick off a series of six concerts. “We’ve been out touring for six months. We’ve got four more to go. This is great.”

It’s profitable, too – their “Have a Nice Day” tour has pulled in more than $1.2 million (euro0.97 million) , making it the most lucrative tour going right now.

But it hasn’t exactly been easy.

Guitarist Richie Sambora fell in his Los Angeles home and fractured his left arm in two places last month. Bon Jovi said Sambora will be able to play the Japan dates, but he may have to cradle the guitar sitting down, and has been experimenting with putting the strap over his other shoulder.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Bon Jovi said at his Tokyo hotel. He added that after Japan, the band has three weeks off before heading on to Europe. “That will give him some more time to heal.”

The upcoming European leg has had some glitches as well.

Bon Jovi had to change the venue for two live shows in Britain this summer because of concerns the new national stadium at Wembley wouldn’t be ready in time. The rock band’s June 10-11 concerts will be held at the nearby Milton Keynes Bowl.

Problems aside, Bon Jovi, who turned 44 last month, said that the tour marks something of a turning point.

“I don’t need to make records, I don’t need to tour,” he said. “I’m not chasing anybody anymore. I’m not chasing anything. That’s what you do in your youth.”

But he acknowledged that staying fresh can be a challenge.

“It’s a matter of doing it on a level that you’ve grown accustomed to, while you’re also contributing in a relevant way, a new way, bringing in new generations of fans,” he said. “It’s been 22 years of making records and I must have been to Japan 25 times or more. There’s not too many things in the world I haven’t seen.

“Am I going to be doing this when I’m 88? I don’t know.”

Lest anyone accuse Bon Jovi of being past their peak, however, he noted that along with the sellout crowds on the tour stops, his latest hit, a duet with Jennifer Nettles, is currently No. 3 on the U.S. country music charts.

“This isn’t nostalgia. This isn’t a reunion tour,” he said. “This is the continuation of a career – a big one and a long one.”

Eric Talmadge

P.S. Check out Bon Jovi Tickets here.

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