MUSE @ The Staples Center!

If you haven’t purchased tickets to tonight’s Muse concert at the Staples Center….you have but a few hours so get on it. Seats are still available and the show, which is undoubtedly worth every farthing, is rock at its finest.

For me, last night’s unforgettable performance was an event five months in the making.

Rewind to April 17, 2010, and journey with me to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. After spending nearly seven hours in the blistering desert heat, deprived of water and food (after all, there was no way I was abandoning my prized front-row pit position once I had secured it), I watched three British musicians captivate tens of thousands of music enthusiasts with unparalleled energy, stunning visual effects, and just straight-up bad assness. Cured from my fatigue, dehydration, and starvation, I became Muse’s newest convert. Upon my return to a reality devoid of frontman Matthew Bellamy in skin-tight red trousers, I began scouring the internet for any sign of an upcoming live performance.

Thank you, KROQ.

Within a week of the festival’s completion, the esteemed radio station announced that my beloved alternative rock group would grace L.A. fans’ with its presence. Tickets were bought immediately and the countdown, full of gleeful anticipation, commenced.

Read more

Coachella Report: Day 2

Coachella Report: Saturday, April 17

I arrived to the festival grounds in the heat of the late afternoon, amped for another fabulous evening of music and spectacle. After entering I made a speedy beeline to the mainstage, where I would camp out for the rest of the night.

Eager to begin the crucial mission of elbowing my way to the front for Muse’s set (which was still three acts and over five hours away), I embedded myself deeply within the pit for Tokyo Police Club. The band drew a decent crowd, inlcuding that same five year old from Friday, who was still perched atop his dad’s shoulders and mouthing each and every lyric. The performance was nothing extraordinary, but the guys’ excitement to be appearing on the Coachella main stage (the group’s largest crowd to date) was endearing.

As the teeny-bop rock fans filtered out to catch other acts, an edgier crowd made its way to the pit, forcing me to stand firmly in my prized spot near the railing. Coheed and Cabria performed next, inciting a miniature riot within the pit with its heavy metal riffs. The band’s appearance was particularly exciting for the hard core fans around me, who were rejoicing over the release of its brand new album (Year of the Black Rainbow dropped just days before the start of the festival). In celebration, heads banged and bodies moshed, and those of us less familiar with the group enjoyed the unique experience. I was especially delighted as Coheed wrapped up its set with the song “Welcome Home,” which awesomely featured my alma mater’s marching band, the USC Spirit of Troy. It was pretty epic. Read more

New Kelly Clarkson Album Due Out Next Christmas

In an interview with Q100, Kelly Clarkson revealed that her new album will be out in time for Christmas next year, 2010.

Clarkson says –

“We’re already working on it but it’s probably not going to hit until, like, the fourth quarter of next year — around Christmas next year…There’s still some like singer/songwriter stuff [on the album], but there’s … I don’t know. It’s almost like Garbage-meets-pop-meets-Muse. It’s a little different…I don’t know how it’s going to end up. Who knows?” Kelly Clarkson said. “It always ends up being something completely different.”

Different can be good, as long as it’s not like Clarkson’s ‘My December’ album. In that case, different didn’t quite work out like she had hoped.

Adam Lambert Album Track List Revealed

The track list for Adam Lambert’s debut album For Your Entertainment has been released!

Fans are in for quite a treat with some great collaborations on Lambert’s upcoming album For Your Entertainment.

The track ‘Whataya Want From Me?’ was co-written by the hit-maker Max Martin and pop divas Pink.

American Idol judge and songwriter Kara DioGuardi worked with Lambert on ‘Strut’ and the Princess of Pop, Lady GaGa, penned ‘Fever’ for the American Idol runner-up.

Here’s the rest of the track list with writing credits:

1 “Music Again” 3:16 – Rob Cavallo, Justin Hawkins of the Darkness
2 “For Your Entertainment” 3:35 – Claude Kelly/Dr. Luke
3 “Whataya Want from Me” 3:47 – Pink, Max Martin
4 “Strut” 3:29 – Adam Lambert, Kara DioGuardi
5 “Soaked” 4:33 – Muse
6 “Sure Fire Winners” 3:32 – Rob Cavallo
7 “A Loaded Smile” 4:04 – Adam Lambert, Linda Perry
8 “If I Had You” 3:48
9 “Fever” 3:26 – Lady GaGa
10 “Sleepwalker” 4:25 – Aimee Mayo, Chris Lindsay, Ryan Tedder
11 “Aftermath” 4:26
12 “Broken Open” 5:03
13 “Time for Miracles” Bonus Track 4:43 – Rob Cavallo

Are you excited for Lambert’s upcoming album?

ATTN New Moon Fans: Cast Mall Tour To Include Concert

Summit Entertainment has announced a New Moon 15-city mall tour across the U.S.!

The tour will feature Q&A’s with cast-members of New Moon along with performances by bands from the soundtrack at select stops.

The tour will kick off in Hollywood on November 6 at the Hollywood & Highland complex with performances by Death Cab for Cutie, Anya Marina, Sea Wolf and Band of Skulls.

Click HERE for tour dates.

‘New Moon’ Exclusive Song Premiere: Lykke Li, ‘Possibility’

The “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack’s release date was just moved up to Oct. 16 and we’ve got one of the tracks for you to check out.

Swedish alt-pop singer/songwriter Lykke Li’s contribution to “New Moon” is “Possbility,” a haunting piece of chamber pop that finds her humming over a hymnal drone and stark, metronomic piano line. “There’s a possibility all that I had was all I gon’ get,” Li sings through thick echoes. “So tell me when you hear my heart stop/You’re the only one that knows/Tell me when you hear my silence/There’s a possibility/ I wouldn’t know.”

Li, who recently ended a world tour in support of her debut album, “Youth Novels,” recently blogged about her contribution to the “New Moon” soundtrack. “I got to see ['New Moon'] when I was in LA for a show and an idea immediately rose to my mind,” said the singer. “It would take a few weeks before I even had a chance to sit down by a piano but then suddenly I wrote it while having a few days off in Sweden just coming out of a fever…I’m really proud of it and hope you will love it and need it.”

The “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack also features indie darlings Bon Iver and St. Vincent in a duet entitled “Roslyn,” as well as songs by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear, U.K. outfit Muse and rockers Death Cab for Cutie, who claimed the lead single with “Meet Me on the Equinox.”

Check out Lykke Li’s ‘Possibility’ –

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Muse, Lily Allen Top Big Day Out Lineup

British alternative rock trio Muse, pop artist Lily Allen and returning local heroes Powderfinger are booked to play the 2010 Big Day Out festival tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Others confirmed by organizers the line-up includes British electronica acts Groove Armada and Calvin Harris, swaggering Brit rockers Kasabian, alt-rock band the Horrors, rapper Dizzee Rascal and rising local artists Ladyhawke, Lisa Mitchell and the Temper Trap. But there was no space on today’s announcement for David Bowie, who had been widely tipped by bloggers to show down under for an acoustic performance.

Now entering its 18th run, the Big Day Out is the largest outdoor music event of its kind in Australia. Attendance for the six-date 2009 edition reached 263,054, down slightly from the all-time peak of 282,692 for the 2008 tour.

The BDO 2010 kicks off Jan. 15 at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium, before moving on to venues at the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and concluding Jan. 31 at Perth’s Claremont Showground. Tickets will be priced at $140 Australian ($100) for the Australian dates and $132 New Zealand ($92) for the Auckland event.

I don’t know, this lineup seems pretty mediocre. What do you think?

MTV VMA Set List Leaked

The 2009 VMA Set List has been leaked online and fans are in store for what will be an incredible show. The VMA’s have been far from impressive the past few years, but MTV has gone above and beyond for this year’s show!

Here’s a run down of what to expect –

Janet Jackson – Michael Jackson Tribute: Medley Thriller/Beat It/Billie Jean (Slow Remix)
Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me
Lady Gaga – Medley Love Game/Paparazzi
Alicia Keys feat. Jay-Z – Empire State Of Mind
Cobra Starship – Good Girls Go Bad
The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell
Pink – FunHouse
Green Day – 21 Guns
3oh3! – Don’t Trust Me
Pitbull – I Know You Want Me
Muse – Uprising
Beyoncé – Sweet Dreams
Britney Spears – Baby One More Time (Rock Remix)
Britney Spears – Heart Love Destroyed
Everybody – Michael Jackson’s Tribute: They Don’t Care About Us