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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.

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

Bumbershoot Acts Announced

Kanye West, AFI, A Tribe Called Quest, Yellow Card, Shooter Jennings, The Blood Brothers, Hawthorne Heights and Atmosphere are among the lineup of diverse acts performing at the 36th annual Bumbershoot music and arts festival Sept. 2-4 at The Seattle Center.

Other musical acts include Feist, Mates of State, Of Montreal, Matt Costa, Bettye Lavette, the Subdudes, Ivan Neville’s Dumstaphunk, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Yerba Buena, as well as The English Beat, Gossip, 3 Inches of Blood, Deerhoof, Laura Veirs, Nouvelle Vague, Breakestra, Jamie Lidell, Vashti Bunyan, Dengue Fever and Metric.

The 2006 festival offers three days of live music, comedy, dance, “indie” crafts, spectacle, film, theater, kid’s activities and literary and visual arts. The festival has been shortened by one day and begins this year on Saturday, Sept. 2, but more than 1,500 artists of all genres are expected to perform at 20 venues on the 74-acre site.

Bumbershoot is produced by One Reel, the Seattle-based non-for-profit events producer that also produces Teatro ZinZanni and the Summer Nights concert series, which will resume in 2007 at a new location.

Providing some of the spectacle that Bumbershoot is known for is the Flat Track Derby Invitational, featuring seven of the best flat-track roller derby teams from around the country, all vying for cash prizes and Bumbershoot’s first title of this kind. Co-hosts of the event are the Rat City Roller Girls. Skaters in outrageous outfits and madcap announcers are part of the fun.

The dance lineup features headliner Rubberbandance Group of Montreal, making its Seattle debut, as well as co-headliner Pacific Northwest Ballet. Choreographer Victor Quijada has led the Rubberbandance Group in performances in Japan, Holland and Finland, as well as London and New York City.

As part of the literary arts program, author, cultural critic and rock journalist Greil Marcus is featured. Marcus is author of “Mystery Train,” “Lipstick Traces” and the upcoming “The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice.” Also featured is Mary Gaitskill, author of “Veronica,” nominated for the National Book Award and cited as one of the 10 best books of 2005 by the New York Times.

Flatstock 9, featuring innovative underground poster artists and their work, is presented by Bumbershoot in conjunction with the American Poster Institute.Lisa Leingang of CBS-TV is curating the lineup of national and regional comedians. And the Seattle International Film Festival, the biggest film festival in the United States, is curating the 1 Reel Film Festival for the first time.The Northwest Rooms offers visual-arts exhibits addressing the theme of “High Tech vs. Home Ec.” — exploring technology-based art at a time when the crafts movement gaining momentum.

Regional theater programs co-curated by Bumbershoot and Theatre Puget Sound are offered all three days.

Gene Stout

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

Arctic Monkeys Expand U.S. Tour

Following a sold-out U.S. club tour this spring, ultra-hyped British buzz band the Arctic Monkeys will kick off another U.S. headlining jaunt in support of their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, beginning June 2nd in San Diego.

Released in the U.K. earlier this year, Whatever sold more than 350,000 copies its first week, becoming the fastest-selling debut in British history, and earned the Monkeys a heavyweight following that includes David Bowie, Mick Jagger and fellow British rock giants Oasis. In February, the album bowed more modestly on these shores — at Number Twenty Four — spearheaded by the single “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.”

Despite the rapid ascension, the Sheffield, England quartet — singer/guitarist Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, bassist Andy Nicholson and drummer Matt Helders — are taking it all in stride. “Last year at this time, we were driving around playing shows near Sheffield,” Turner told Rolling Stone just before their spring jaunt. “Now, it feels like we’ll at least have a go at it.”

Arctic Monkeys Tour dDates:

6/2: San Diego, Soma
6/3: Los Angeles, Wiltern
6/4: Tempe, AZ, Marquee
6/6: Dallas, Granada
6/7: Austin, Stubbs
6/8: Houston, Warehouse
6/10: Atlanta, Roxy
6/11: Norfolk, VA, Norva
6/12: Baltimore, Sonar
6/14: New York, Roseland
6/15: Boston, Avalon

Jessica Robertson

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

Snow Patrol North American Tour

Most of the stops along Snow Patrol’s short U.S. run last month sold out in mere minutes, leaving some fans out in the cold. But the band is returning to North America May 23 — two weeks after the release of its latest outing, Eyes Open – for a 19-gig trek set to launch in Denver and hit cities including Boston, New York, Dallas, Chicago and Seattle before winding down June 20 in Los Angeles.

The band will be showcasing its forthcoming LP for fans during the tour, which will also cross the border for a trio of Canadian dates. Tickets for most of the shows go on sale Friday, while others will be available Saturday and Sunday.

Eyes Open, the follow-up to 2004’s Final Straw, will feature 11 tracks, including “You’re All I Have,” “Chasing Cars,” “Finish Line” and the first single, “Hands Open.” The disc will land in stores on May 9, and features guest spots from Big Star and R.E.M.’s touring keyboardist Ken Stringfellow, Martha Wainwright and some of Scotland’s indie elite, including Eugene Kelly (the Vaselines) and Charlie Clarke (Astrid).

“Hands Open” marks the band’s first flirtation with rock-radio riffs, according to frontman Gary Lightbody, who spoke with MTV News during last month’s South by Southwest Music Conference. Snow Patrol struggled to get the song just right, and Lightbody admitted it hasn’t been easy pulling the tune off live.

“We’d never written a riff before, and there were no vocals over the riff either when we did it — that took me ages to work out, because when we play it live, it’s one of the only songs we’ve ever done where I don’t play guitar, because I can’t play that riff and sing at the same time,” he said, adding that most nights, when the song comes up on the set list, “I end up in the audience.”

There’s no word yet on who will open up for the band, but an announcement is expected within the next few weeks.

Snow Patrol’s North American tour dates, according to the band’s publicist:

• 5/23 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
• 5/25 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
• 5/26 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
• 5/27 – Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theatre
• 5/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
• 5/31 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 6/2 – Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 6/3 – New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
• 6/5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 6/6 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
• 6/7 – Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
• 6/9 – Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo
• 6/10 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
• 6/11 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
• 6/14 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 6/15 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
• 6/16 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
• 6/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
• 6/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern LG

Chris Harris, with additional reporting by James Montgomery

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

NGDB Teams With Nelson During 40th Anniv. Tour

As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will hit the road in North America throughout the year. Among the plans are a string of Canadian dates opening for Willie Nelson.

The tour with Nelson opens April 27 in London, Ontario, and stretches through a May 14-15 stand in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The group will reunite with Nelson for a May 26 show in Uncasville, Conn., and again Sept. 3 in Morrison, Col., for a concert at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The summer will find the Dirt Band playing a slate of fairs and festivals including Country Music Festival USA (June 17), North Carolina’s Appalachian Summer Fest (July 15) and the Central Wisconsin State Fair (Aug. 30). More dates are expected.

NGDB currently features founding members Jeff Hanna (guitars, vocals), Jimmie Fadden (drums, harmonica, vocals) and John McEuen (banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin) and as well as “newcomer” Bob Carpenter (keyboards, accordion, vocals), who has been in the band for 26 years. The group has released more than 30 albums, including three all-star volumes under the “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” banner.

Earlier this year, Hanna won a best country song Grammy award for co-writing the Rascal Flatts hit “Bless the Broken Road.”

Here are the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s tour dates:

April 27: London, Ontario (John Labatt Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
April 28: Ottawa (Civic Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
April 29: Peterborough, Ontario (Memorial Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
April 30: Hamilton, Ontario (Copps Coliseum Arena; w/Willie Nelson)
May 2: Toronto (Air Canada Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
May 3: Montreal (Bell Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
May 5: Fredericton, New Brunswick (Aitken University Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
May 6: Moncton, New Brunswick (Moncton Coliseum; w/Willie Nelson)
May 7: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Island Civic Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
May 9: Saint John, New Brunswick (Harbour Stadium Civic Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
May 10: Halifax, Nova Scotia (Metro Centre; w/Willie Nelson)
May 11: Sydney, Nova Scotia (Centre 200 Arena; w/Willie Nelson)
May 13: Cornerbrook, Newfoundland (Arts and Cultural Center; w/Willie Nelson)
May 14-15: St. John’s, Newfoundland (Mile One Stadium; w/Willie Nelson)
May 19-20: Jackpot, Nev. (Cactus Peteís)
May 26: Uncasville, Conn. (Mohegan Sun Casino; w/Willie Nelson)
June 17: Sauk Centre, Minn. (Country Music Festival USA)
June 18: Deadwood, S.D. (Downtown Deadwood)
July 1: Springfield, Mo. (Springfield-Branson Airport)
July 15: Boone, N.C. (Appalachian Summer Fest)
July 25: Dayton, Wyo. (Scott Centennial Park)
July 26: Lewistown, Mon. (Central Montana Fair)
July 27: Medicine Hat, Alberta (Medicine Hat Stampede)
July 29: Caldwell, Idaho (Canyon County Fair)
July 31: Layton, Utah (Kenley Centennial Amphitheatre)
Aug. 3: Redmond, Ore. (Deschutes County Fair)
Aug. 4: Colusa, Calif. (Colusa Indian Bingo & Casino)
Aug. 30: Marshfield, Wis. (Central Wisconsin State Fair)
Sept. 1: Bayfield, Wis. (Big Top Chautauqua)
Sept. 3: Morrison, Col. (Red Rocks Amphitheatre; w/Willie Nelson)
Oct. 7: Fort Yates, N.D. (Prairie Knights Casino)

Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

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