After withering on the vine as a multi-city tour over the course of the 1990s and 2000s, the Lollapalooza festival has made a comeback following on models such as Coachella. For 2006, Lollapalooza will be a 3-day event held in Chicago from August 4-6, one day longer than last year's festival and with anywhere from twice to four times the audience expected over last year's 65,000.

Acts have yet to be announced but last year's attracted everyone from Weezer to The Pixies to Dashboard Confessional and there's every expectation that this year's will up the ante even more. Normally, we'd say that a 3 day outdoor festival, in Chicago, in August just sounds like a small slice of hell given the infamous summer heat in the Windy City, but then again, does it make any less sense than a two day festival held in the Palm Springs desert (Coachella)? Still, if estimates hold up, this is going to be a huge affair; the Chicago Tribune are predicting crowds of up to 225,000 to gather around the city's waterfront to see the estimated 130 bands(!) play on one of the eight stages to be set-up. (Source: MTV News)

As you might expect from a Grammy night with so many different kinds of performances, the score card showed mixed results by the end of the evening. The night started pretty well with the Gorillaz coming out in all their animated glory, then joined by De La Soul (in the flesh) to perform "Feel Good, Inc." After that, the cartooned band stayed on stage to help welcome Madonna who started "Hung Up" with the Gorillaz and then finished up with her own entourage of dancers. All we can say is this: damn, Madonna is looking good.

Let's talk smack first: there were a lot of snoozy performances, such as Coldplay's and Keith Urban's. Paul McCartney excited the crowd when he began to play The Beatles' "Helter Skelter," but ouch, his voice can't carry that song anymore. It was painful to hear such a great, raucous tune undone by a weak voice.

U2's "Vertigo" was fine though felt a bit perfunctory; they surprised many by having Mary J. Blige come on stage to sing "One," though honestly, I didn't feel like she pulled it off so well.

By far though, the worst performance of the evening had to go to the entire Sly and the Family Stone tribute medley: the whole affair sounded like something you'd hear on a cruise ship. Everything was overplayed and oversung and had the spontaneity of an ice cube. The fact that Sly Stone himself actually showed – looking his age (and not in a good way) though rocking a huge blond mohawk (not a good look) – was a big deal but he half-heartedly sang his way through, "I Want To Take You Higher," left before the song was even really done, and in the end, the whole affair just felt very sad.

In terms of some decent performances ... Kelly Clarkson didn't do "Since U Been Gone" (disappointed!) but her ballad went off fine, as did Mariah's "We Belong Together." John Legend's "Ordinary People," didn't have a lot of bells and whistles but the producers shot it with a B&W filter and that gave it a nice touch of class. Jay-Z and Linkin Park didn't sound too ace together but McCartney surprised the crowd when he came up and joined the group in singing "Yesterday," (though Jay-Z mostly sat back and said, "yeah!"). The mega-band New Orleans tribute wasn't exactly the tightest thing ever but for what it was, it was ok. A necessary tribute to make but it wasn't the disaster that was the Sly Stone tribute.

Lastly, I really have to say that the most exciting and compelling performance of the evening was by Kanye West, joined by marching band players plus Jamie Foxx. Their performance of both "Gold Digger," then part of "Touch the Sky," was staged very well and it was a colorful and entertaining affair; spectacular without trying to make a spectacle of itself. I just wish other groups had put in the same imagination for their performances. (Source: MSNBC)

While there weren't any unintentional boobie flashes at this year's Superbowl, ABC is still so paranoid from 2004's "Nipplegate" incident that it's taken drastic measures to censor any potentially offensive material from its half-time show. The Rolling Stones aren't remotely that salacious in 2006 (1966, ok, sure, maybe) yet they found themselves subject to 5-second delay editing not once, but twice.

On "Start Me Up," censors silently edited the lyric, "you can make a dead man come." Ok, we can understand that even if we think it's silly. But the second case came on "Rough Justice," where Mick Jagger sings, "just one of your cocks," which had more to do with being fowl than being foul, but that got cut too. The way this is going, perhaps the Superbowl next year will just have The Rugrats doing the half-time show, or maybe even they're too racy. (Source: SJ Mercury)

The British Musician's Union is leading a campaign to force t.v. and cable broadcasters to acknowledge whether or not acts performing on their show are using live music or simply lip-synching/miming to a pre-recorded track. According to Horace Trubridge, assistant general secretary of the Union:

""Just as when you buy a can of beans and it tells you what's in the beans, we think if you are going to buy a ticket for a show or watch a band on the TV, you should know exactly what it is you are buying and what you are watching."

Seems that the majority of people (71%) who responded to a recent poll agree with the sentiment, expressing the desire to know if any given performance is live or Memorex. The Union's proposal would flash up a logo on screen that would indicate whether the performance was live or used any miming. (One wonders how this same idea might fly in the U.S. but we think it might prove embarrassing for many). (Source: BBC News)

John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten is actually considering reforming the Sex Pistols for a one-time appearance ... in Japan. The original members haven't been together since the group celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1996 and the animosity between some of the members is hardly a secret. However, Lydon puts it down in plain, simple language: it's the money:

"There's been an offer in Japan ... we might do it because the money's great, but secondly it can be filmed and that can be an end-piece. We've done England. The hardcore were there (at Crystal Palace) and that's all that counts."

So far, only Lydon has been the only group member to sign onto the idea but he thinks that the tensions between members might actually help fuel a great performance in the process:

"We like the fact that we dislike each other. In a weird way it makes us like each other all the more. It's so brazenly in-your-face honest between us. I love being on stage with those chaps - and I wouldn't be seen dead with them off. And they'd tell you the same about me."

(Source: Contactmusic)

Relax NFL; Aretha's not mad at you anymore. The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin raised a justifiable stink over the last few months when it was announced that the Rolling Stones would be performing during the Superbowl halftime show. Franklin thought it was a slap in the face of Detroit – who is hosting the Superbowl – to not have any of its native musicians in the mix; after all, Detroit's musical heritage is one of the richest in America.

Franklin told the Associated Press earlier in the week: "How dare you come to Detroit, a city of legends - musical legends plural - and not ask one or two of them to participate."Faced with a, uh, blitz of negative publicity, the NFL quickly scrambled to make sure the pre-game show was positively brimming with Motor City related musical talent: Stevie Wonder was tapped to play a variety of Motown songs while Aretha would help sing the national anthem alongside New Orleans' native sons Aaron Neville, Dr. John and 150 person choir. (Source: AOL News)

MTV is reporting that the final line-up (well, as close to final as these things ever get) for the Coachella Festival is done. The weekend concert in the desert by Palm Springs is now in its seventh year, with the latest installment set for April 29 and 30.

Among the nearly 80 acts who will be performing include: TV on the Radio, Danger Mouse, Damian Marley, Cat Power, Common, Franz Ferdinand, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, DJ Paul Oakenfeld, Tricky, Bloc Party and Scissor Sisters. The main headliners will be Depeche Mode (who will close the first night on the main stage), and Tool (who close the second night). Tool actually helped close the first Coachella Festival too, during a set with Rage Against the Machine.

The Festival can attract upwards 50,000 fans; not bad considering that most of them will be spending two days in scorching hot heat, chugging water like it was, uh, water. The LA Times notes that,

"although considered a big gamble in its early years, [Coachella] has become a template for U.S. stand-alone festivals. That same crowded marketplace has made it harder, though, for the festival's promoters to maintain their ambition of new headliners each year, as Tool's return proves."

(Sources: MTV, LA Times)

Brazilians must really love their U2; there was general frustration, anger and unrest in the city of Sao Paulo after tens of thousands of fans waited for hours to score tickets to an upcoming show in late February. According to Reuters,

"Tickets went on sale only at 10 supermarkets in Sao Paulo and two in Rio de Janeiro at 10 a.m. Lines formed before midnight Sunday. At most outlets, only one cashier was handling the sales and machines broke down, leading to chaos. The demand was unexpected, Pao de Acucar press officer Paulo Pompilio said. "There were 73,000 tickets. The demand was much, much more," Pompilio told Reuters outside the Brigadeiro branch where crowds swirled. "We estimate about 100,000 people want tickets and all were buying the 10 ticket limit."

This is no small deal since the price of a ticket ($75 for full price) is equal to 2/3rds of Brazil's minimum monthly wage. To be prepared to make that kind of sacrifice and then NOT get a ticket can't be fun, especially not after 12 hours in the sun.

We also noted this humorous tidbit snuck in at the end of the story:

"The situation was complicated by the Brazilian custom of allowing senior citizens, invalids and pregnant women to the front of lines, leading to a bottleneck of uncomfortable looking old folk as well as a number of fit-looking young men on crutches at the shop entrance."

(Source: AOL News)

File this under: silly but true. The Rolling Stones will be performing at this year's Superbowl in February and planners wanted to surround the Stones with a diverse audience of fans for the half-time show. The only stipulation is that people looking to join the fray have to be under 45. According to the NFL, these rules are in place because the "job" of being a half-time fan is physically strenuous:

"You have to attend rehearsal and be able to stand for long stretches of time. And you have to run on to Ford Field with 2,000 other folks."

The presumption here is that those over 45 may not be up to the running, standing, dancing and yelling that will be expected of them for the show.

The obvious point that news outlets are picking up on is that, under this rule, the Stones themselves wouldn't be eligible to be part of the audience of their own show since the average age of the group members is something like 102 (at least it feels that way). And heck, we know plenty of under 45 year olds who are in terrible shape. NFL: Let the old(er) folks rock out! (Source: Guardian Unlimited)

The year in concerts gets a mixed review. On one hand, revenue is the highest it's ever been: big concerts by The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2 help churn out a $3.1 billion in revenue, a nearly 11% increase from 2004. However, this is more reflective of higher ticket prices than consumer interest. Patronage of concerts is actually down for the third year in a row – 36.1 million compared to 37.6 million in 2004. During this time though, the average ticket price rose $7 since 2003 with the average concert ticket selling for $57, a $5.37 rise since 2004.

Also, 2005 likely would not have gone done in the record books if not for the high profile tours of people like the Rolling Stones or U2, both of whom blew past the mark set by the Stones in 1994 when their tour scored a then-record high $121.2 million in revenue. This year, the Stones cranked up $162 million (with an average ticket price of $133.98, ouch) while U2 scored $138.9 million (with tickets averaging $96.92).

We don't see ticket prices dropping anytime soon and it's clear, given the success of the Stones, McCartney and U2, that most of these big tours are being patronized by older music fans rather than the vaunted 18-25 demographic. That makes sense since baby boomers have more disposable incomes but this does raise the question: what happens in the years were the dinosaurs of rock aren't doing arena shows? It's worth noting that despite the power-packed punch of the Anger Management Tour which brought together three of the most popular rappers – Lil' Jon, 50 Cent and Eminem – didn't sell out many of the venues they performed at. If ticket prices continue to soar upward, it won't be surprising if 2006 sees an even worse year for turnout even if revenue still remains steady (but without some big-name tours, that might be in question too). (Source: Yahoo News)

In a year filled with big, blockbuster tours, at the top of the heap was U2 and their "Vertigo" tour. They sold out 90 concerts that attracted over 3 million fans, grossing at least $260,000,000 according to Billboard. Another "senior" rock band, the Eagles, have still managed to demonstrate their staying power amongst the baby boomer set though their sales were less than half of U2's, coming in a distant second with 77 shows and $117 million.

Neil Diamond came in third with $71 million, followed by Kenny Chesney's $63 million, though his 1.1 million attendees was second behind U2's (Presumably, Chesney charged less than Diamond and the Eagles). Also in the Top 10 mix are Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and the Dave Matthews Band.

Notably, there are not R&B or hip-hop acts in the top 10, nor any major contemporary pop acts. As well, the Rolling Stones' tour numbers are not calculated in any of this since they don't release their figures until after the entire tour is done. It's almost certain they would have been in the Top 10, probably Top 5.

For all these big numbers, tour revenue is actually down from last year, by about 6%. Attendance was also down, close to 4% in comparison to 2004. (Source: Billboard)

I took a rare excursion out last night to catch Kanye West's "Touch the Sky" tour in San Jose, California. I was initially disappointed that the tour's original conception never took off: it was supposed to be Kanye, Common and Young Jeezy but first Common had to bail to pursue an acting gig then Jeezy dropped as well. Replacing them with Keisha Cole and Fantasia was not exactly an equivalent exchange. However, I will say this much: Kanye put on a very polished and well-produced show that didn't overstay its welcome and balanced his big hit singles ("Gold Digger," "All Falls Down," "Jesus Walks") and LP tracks that almost all the fans knew anyways ("Gone," "Spaceship," even "Roses.")

At one point, right before "Gold Digger" was going to kick in, Kanye actually stopped the entire show to admonish all the people watching T.V. in the VIP suites (this was at the HP Pavilion, normally a hockey arena) and refused to continue until all the televisions were off and all eyes were on him. It seemed par for the course for a rapper who's made his reputation as being egotistical and self-centered though that doesn't mean it also wasn't a funny moment either.

At the very least, it was one of the very few times in the evening where West deviated from what was a very scripted show and if I had any complaint, it's that it was so scripted and plotted that it felt a bit cold and impersonal. I thought the same thing of the Anger Management Tour earlier this summer too; would it kill artists to drop the pretense and interact with the audience (and I don't mean getting us to say, "hooooo!!!!").

The Tour now continues to Las Vegas tonight, then Portland on Saturday, Everett (WA) on Sunday and Vancouver on the 11th. (Source: SOHH.com)

The Voodoo Music Experience took place in New Orleans this past weekend and brought in over 20,000 people for one of the biggest shows in the Crescent City following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Ray Nagin opened the show by declaring, "I want to let everyone across the country know that today, the [displace New Orleans] musicians aren't on loan anymore. They're all coming back home."

The show was headlined by Nine Inch Nails (lead singer Trent Reznor has lived in N.O. for several years now) and also included performances by the Bravery, Queens of the Stone Age, Secret Machines, and the Rebirth Brass Band. Proceeds from the performance are being funneled to Katrina relief funds, including the New Orleans Restoration Fund and Habitat for Humanity. (Source: Billboard)

Bob Geldof, organizer of this year's massive Live 8 benefit concerts, as well as the Live Aid campaigns of the 1980s, has been named as 2005's Nobel Man of Peace. The committee that bestows the honor is made up of Nobel Peace Prize winners and they chose Geldof for "his unflagging work and powerful voice on behalf of the poor of Africa over the last 20 years and in particular the last 12 months."

The award was announced at the launch of the newly completed Live 8 DVD, which compiles footage from the various summer concerts (the DVD comes out November 7). In response to the honor, Geldof was profanely frank:

"I am overwhelmed and proud. It's more than an honour, it's almost ridiculous. It's almost too big. That's f-----g big. I feel weird."

(Source: NME)

First, a pre-New Orleans-devestating Hurricane Katrina forced MTV's Video Music Awards to cancel a host of pre-show parties. Now Hurricane Wilma is back to foul up plans for MTV's Latin VMAs. (The evidence is clear: Nature really hates MTV.) Instead of being taped on this upcoming Thursday, MTV is planning to schedule the event on today instead, anticipating Wilma's potential path.

The line-up, however, remains unchanged with performances from Shakira, Ricky Martin, Good Charlotte (they do Latin songs? Really?), and Sean Paul planned for the event in Quintana, Mexico. (Source: Monsters and Critics)

For those who live in major cities, it's almost assured that big concert tours will roll through your town. However, for those living in smaller, so-called "secondary markets," it's not so certain. Jill Kipnis reports on how the economics of touring affects smaller cities. Says Curtis McCrary, manager of a mid-sized venue in Tuscon:

"The sheer reality is that the economics aren`t as good in a secondary market. We`re almost always the lowest ticket price on the tour for any artist that comes through, because secondary markets are a little bit more price-sensitive.

On the other hand, lower budgets also mean lower costs, making secondary markets more attractive for up-and-coming artists even if, say, the Rolling Stones aren't trying to roll through Sacramento. It's also a good way to stay current with your fan base. Says country singer Kenny Chesney's booking agent Clint Higham,

"A fan is a fan is a fan. You`ve got to hit Omaha, Neb., just like Los Angeles. Some places might not be every-year markets, but you have to go there."

On the whole, Kipnis' article suggests that the obstacles facing smaller cities are numerous, from the inability to stage more elaborate sets to restricted marketing opportunities. (Source: Monsters and Critics)

Chicago's Common became one of the first major American rap artists to play a concert in China. On this past Saturday, he headlined the Beijing Pop Festival, alongside The Stone Roses' Ian Brown, Detroit techno legend Derrick May and Taiwanese pop star Zhang Zhen Yu.

Though cities like Beijing and Shanghai have their own local rap scenes, there has not been a huge push until recently to try to bring over American hip-hop artists to perform there so Common's stint as headliner is a big deal. Somewhere, we speculate Diddy and Jay-Z are trying to figure out how they can sell a billion CDs. (Source: Vibe)

Speaking of BET's good side, the network will host "S.O.S. (Saving Our Selves)" tonight at 6pm EST. Performers include: Master P, David Banner, Juvenile, Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Diddy, Jay Z, Kanye West, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige. This all-Black line-up stands in striking contrast to the evening's later telethon: "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast," airing tonight at 8pm EST. That show will be carried with a large number of networks, including the major broadcast companies (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, etc.) and an array of cable stations too (in total, across 95 countries). (This is not to be confused with the VH1/CMT/MTV joint concert, "ReAct Now" which airs on Saturday night).

Among the artists performing will be U2, Alicia Keys, Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters, and Neil Young, as well as Kanye West, though West has promised to keep to the apolitical script (pity). Not to make too much of this, but why the notable racial segregation of stars between the two? Obviously, Alicia and Kanye can make both, so why not more integration? (Sources: EURWeb, Billboard, Monstersandcritics.com)

Many of the artists who lost their homes to Katrina are both struggling to figure out what to do next as well as assembling their own resources to benefit others. For example, Fats Domino, who was found last week, has reportedly "lost everything," while formerly missing singers Irma Thomas and Margie Joseph have turned up safe as well. Charmaine Neville, of the Nevilles, speaks up too.

For the region's notable rap talents, the likes of Juvenile, Lil Wayne, BG and Chopper, Master P and more, many are planning benefit concerts and other charity events in the attempt to rebuild. (Sources: Home of the Groove, hiphopmusic.com, SOHH.Com, Allhiphop.com, )

The bill hasn't been finalized yet, but there's Sept. 9 is the planned date for "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert For the Gulf Coast." (Source: NME)

On Sept. 10, CMT, MTV and VH1 are teaming together for a benefit show at Madison Square Garden. (CMT)

The cable station, Great American Country, is planning a Sept. 27 telethon at the Grand Old Opry for Katrina relief that will include Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Julie Roberts and Alison Krauss. (Source: EW Popwatch)

BET finally steps up after a week of relative silence with their own benefit. (Source: SOHH.com)