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June 2008
Music news: Coldplay hits Billboard no. 1
I doubt if anyone is surprised by this, but Coldplay’s latest CD, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” is no. 1 on the Billboard 200. Forty percent of the sales were digital downloads. Just shows you where the music business is headed - to the internet. Coldplay also hosted their third and final free concert at Madison Square Garden on June 23. The new CD can be purchased for $9.99 on Amazon. Rapper Lil Wayne, whose new CD, Tha Carter III, has been burning up the charts, will be playing in Oct. at The Voodoo Experience in New Orleans’ City Park with R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots and others. Country singer Tim McGraw recently took matters into his own hands at a concert in Auburn, Wash. and threw out an unruly fan after the man allegedly tried to attack a woman on the front row. The local security didn’t move quickly enough, so the crew helped McGraw haul the heavyset man onstage to await law enforcement. All the while, the band kept on playing, never missing a beat. Now that’s professional. One of my favorite bands, Phantom Planet, has a new CD out, ‘Raise the Dead,’ which you can buy at their label’s web site, fueledbyramen.com. Radiohead has released a live video album, “In Rainbows — From the Basement,” exclusively on iTunes featuring the band performing its current album at the Hospital studio in London’s Covent Garden.
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It’s all Uphill - the band, that is
Adam Nixon, local guitar player/singer/harmonica player/bass player and probably player of other instruments as well, performed with his band Uphill at the downtown waterfront on Friday night. I must say, they were quite impressive. I’ve heard Nixon play with Out’n the Cold, so I knew he was good, but the man can definitely sing the blues. The band wowed the crowd with their version of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Little Lover Boy, some Lynyrd Skynyrd, some BB King and many other tunes. Nixon played a mean harmonica on a BB King tune and even coaxed the audience into singing along. The rest of the band - bass, drums and keyboards - all sounded like well-seasoned musicians, and very tight, as if they had been playing together for a while. They definitely have the southern rock/blues thing down. I’m looking forward to seeing more from these guys in the future. I think I’ve found my cover story for the month of August…
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‘Hey, you going to see Skynyrd?’
Anybody who lived in the Midwest back in the 70’s, as I did, probably heard that phrase at one time or another. A Lynyrd Skynyrd concert wasn’t just a concert, it was an event. I was surprised to learn that Skynyrd actually formed as early as 1964 under the name ‘The Noble Five,’ claiming influences by bands like Free, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. They eventually won a battle of the bands contest which got them an opening slot on tour with the band Strawberry Alarm Clock. They went on to change their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd and got signed to the record label MCA by Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat and Tears. Pretty strange beginnings for a band that would become the kings of 70’s southern rock. After losing several band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt, in a plane crash, the band went on a decades-long hiatus, reforming in the 80’s with Ronnie’s younger brother, Johnny, on lead vocals. They now have a new CD and a tour coming up and will be headed our way in Sept. at the Coast Guard base. Hopefully, I will be getting in backstage to do some video of the band to post on The Daily Advance web site. A Skynyrd concert should bring back some memories.
