Music News Net

PHISH Concert "Jumper" Pleads Not Guilty to Charges

MUSIC NEWS- The Maine guy who injured himself after police say he jumped from the upper deck at the Nokia Theatre at Jones Beach concert venue on Long Island, NY at the recent PHISH concert has pled not guilty to reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct charges.   Luke Duplessis was released without bail following his arraignment on Friday in a Hempstead, N.Y. court.   Dan Russo, a Long Island-based attorney for the 30-year-old Old Town, ME, resident, disputed allegations that his client jumped, saying instead that his client accidentally fell.

Duplessis landed in a seating area about 25 feet below during intermission of the band's August 18 concert.  He was treated at a local hospital for head injuries, but Russo said he is recovering. One concert goer below reported a minor injury. 

NASA Needs Your Votes to Space Shuttle "Wake Up" Songs

MUSIC NEWS - NASA has launched a contest for you to pick two songs which the space agency will  use to wake up astronauts on an upcoming space shuttle Discovery mission, #STS-133, which is due to start on November 1, 2010.

On the short list of 40 tunes for to pick from are songs by Jimmy Buffett, the Foo Fighters, Audrey Hepburn, the Clash, REO Speedwagon, and The Beatles, which were selected from a collection of previously used tracks.

More information and vote @ SongContest.NASA.Gov.

Human Rights Activists Detained at Moscow U2 Concert

MUSIC NEWS - Human rights activists from Amnesty International were arrested prior to U2's concert last night, August 25, in Moscow, one day after Bono met for tea with the rock-music-loving president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev at the president's residence near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.  Members of the  organization were held after they distributed leaflets outside the venue, despite the organization and the band's management under the impression that they had the necessary permits.

"Our activities were agreed with U2's management, so we are very much surprised," Amnesty International director Ivan Blokov told the BBC News.   During the concert, U2's first in Russia, the band was joined onstage by Russian rocker turned politician Yuri Shevchuk, who sang Bob Dylan's classic 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' with Bono & company.  Of Mr Shevchuk, Bono said he is "a great man".  On Sunday, Shevchuk appeared at a banned concert in central Moscow to protest against plans to build a motorway through a forest.

Rage Against the Machine's de la Rocha Leads Boycott of Arizona

MUSIC NEWS- RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE lead singer Zack de la Rocha is heading up a boycott against the state of Arizona called The Sound Strike.  "We have to intervene in order to do whatever we possibly can to limit that state's ability to function and implement the law," Mr de la Rocha says in a Web video he's produced (see recent press conference below).  So far, he's recruited artists ranging from Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails to Latino bands such as Los Tigres del Norte.

See text below of Zack's statement on the Sound Strike and Arizona.

   

BOB GELDOF's Live Aid Story to Become a Film

MUSIC NEWS - The visionary Irish rocker, (Sir) Bob Geldof and his worldwide Live Aid concert to raise money to help in the famine relief efforst for Ethiopia is being made into a TV film, the BBC announced on Wednesday.   The 1985 concert event, assembled by Geldof and UK music promoter Harvey Goldsmith, found an audience of an estimated 1.5 billion people and helped raise the public and political awareness of Africans impacted by the poverty, starvation and disease.

Filming for the 90 minute teleplay has already started in Dublin.   "When Harvey met Bob," will follow the story from the day Geldof (of the Boomtown Rats band) got home to find his girlfriend at the time, Paula Yates holding their baby and crying while she watched television footage from feeding camps in Eritrea.

JOHN FOGERTY's Baseball Bat Shaped Guitar to Baseball Hall of Fame Museum

MUSIC NEWS- On July 25th, after the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, John Fogerty's legendary baseball bat-shaped guitar will be put on display and become part of the exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. This will be the first time that the Museum will immortalize a musician as part of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which by the way, has for more than a decade kicked off their annual festivities with the playing of the baseball'ss unofficial anthem, Fogerty's classic tune, "CENTERFIELD".

But the famed bat almost didn't make it to Cooperstown, NY.   Fogerty recently commented, "That guitar means a lot to me. It's symbolizes two of my great loves, baseball and the guitar. When 'Centerfield' came out, it was after a long break and was such an important album to me on many levels. The lessons of baseball - the hits, the misses, the triumphs, and the losses - were something that I could really relate to in my life. So I got this idea to make a baseball bat guitar and of course, it had to be a Louisville Slugger. Well, there's nothing else like it in the world, and I think 'Slugger' will be happy at the Baseball Hall of Fame. "

LYLE LOVETT Kicks Off His "Natural Forces" Tour with the Kansas City Symphony

MUSIC NEWS - Lyle Lovett makes a special guest appearance tonight with the Kansas City Symphony at the 2010 Symphony in the Flint Hills.  The sunset concert for several thousand takes place outdoors in the picturesque tallgrass prairie of Chase County, KS.  Lovett will perform three songs with the symphony; If I Had a Boat,Which Way Does That Old Pony Run and Natural Forces, the title track to his newest album.

Lovett narrated the PBS special The Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie and supports the Symphony in Flint Hills and its non-profit efforts of heightening appreciation and awareness of the Kansas Flint Hills.

ROGER WATERS Message to NYC and L.A. This Weekend...

MUSIC NEWS - If you come across a Dwight D Eisenhower (34th USA President, WWII 5 star general) quote this weekend while in NYC or L.A., don't be alarmed.  It's just Pink Floyd's ROGER WATERS call to arms to a new generation of fans, to not sit idly by and believe what is being told to them, but to constantly question, and find the answers they seek by breaking down walls.

The quote;

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”  --Dwight D. Eisenhower

REGINA SPEKTOR Releases Radiohead's "No Surprises" for Charity

MUSIC NEWS - After the success of her March 23rd Doctors Without Borders benefit concert in New York City, which was inspired by the recent earthquake disasters in Haiti and Chile,  Regina Spektor has just released an exclusive, fund-raising iTunes single. Today, Tuesday April 27th, Spektorunveiled her cover of Radiohead's song "No Surprises," with 100% of artist and label proceeds benefiting the Doctors Without Borders’ Emergency Relief Fund.
 
You can get the song here: itunes.apple.com
 
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, natural disasters, or exclusion from health care in nearly 60 countries.  More information on Doctors Without Borders @  doctorswithoutborders.org
 
Spektor is currently on tour in Australia in support of her latest album, Far .
 

HOPE FOR HAITI NOW Event - Video Clips

MUSIC NEWS - Alicia Keys tonight kicked off the George Clooney produced HOPE FOR HAITI NOW fund raiser, tv event. Watch Ms Keys, COLDPLAY (performing A Message), Bruce Springsteen's rendition of We Shall Overcome, Stevie Wonder performing A Time for Love/Bridge Over Troubled Water , Shakira, John Legend (with an amazing Motherless Child), and so many more below (at MTV.com)-

Note that all the tunes performed at tonight's event are available on iTunes starting on January 23 (all procedes go to relief charities).  You can also donate by calling 1.877.99-HAITI or by going to HopeForHaiti.org  .

Alicia Keys - MTV Shows

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NYC Haiti Relief Concerts Announced

MUSIC NEWS - NYC's City Winery has just announced a series of concerts to help in the Haitian earthquake relief efforts.  The shows will also provide you some great entertainment, and are tonight (January 20) thru January 25, at their club at 155 Varick Street.  The four emergency benefit concerts feature a great line-up of talent and currently (more are being added) include Patti Smith, Rosanne Cash, The Swell Season and Yo La Tengo with Carolina Chocolate Drops, Joshua Bell and Lewis Black recently added.

All proceeds from the concerts will be given to Doctors Without Borders, Partners In Health, and the Jewish Renaissance Medical Center. City Winery's goal is to raise $100,000, more info @ Concert details and links to buy tickets CityWinery.com.

If you're in the NYC area, go out and lend your support!

BONO, STING, ALICIA KEYS, Others Sign on to "Hope for Haiti" Benefit

MUSIC NEWS - Actor George Clooney has said the upcoming "HOPE FOR HAITI" benefit for victims of the recent disasterous earthquake in Haiti will now include performances by U2's Bono, Sting, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys.

Clooney told the Associated Press at the Golden Globes ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel that over 40 celebrities are expected to attend the January 22 event. He said the purpose of the benefit is "to show the people of Haiti that the whole world is paying attention."

IGGY POP Added to Tibet House Charity Concert at Carnegie Hall

MUSIC NEWS - Tibet House US has announced that rock icon Iggy Pop will be join the already fantastic line-up of musicians performing at the 20th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert in NYC on February 26 at the reknowned Carnegie Hall.  Already signed on and confirmed after being assembled by the concert’s artistic director Philip Glass, are Regina Spektor, Patti Smith, Jesse Smith, Michael Campbell, Gogol Bordello, Baaba Maal and Pierce Turner.
 
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased thru Carnegie Charge ( 212.247.7800) or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office in NYC (57th Street and Seventh Avenue). Tickets to the concert and a fundraising reception with the event’s Honorary Chairpersons and artists (following the performance) are available through Tibet House US.  More info @ TibetHouse.org .>

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Pink Floyd, Police, Radiohead Drummers Sign on to Continue Sudan Awareness

MUSIC NEWS- Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Phil Selway  (Radiohead) and The Police's Stewart Copeland have joined the lineup in a campaign to keep the peace in Sudan.  Called The Sudan365 campaign and started by Faithless drummer, Jaime Catto, the effort is intended to put pressure on global leaders to take urgent diplomatic action over the next year in order to prevent the country from slipping back into all-out conflict. A new video is being released today from the organization, and features a 'drum beat for peace' that starts in Sudan and is then passed around 15 other countries like a baton.

"I wanted to be involved in this project because I think music is such a powerful way of bringing people together," Selway recently told NME of the video, available today to view on the official site. "Of course, I'm biased in thinking that what's underpinning it all is always the beat - always drummers!"

More drummers involved are Jonny Quinn (Snow Patrol), Egyptian drummer Yehia Khalil and Mustapha Tettey Addy from Ghana.  Several events are occuring around the globe today to celebrate the launch of the video. Take part, and upload pictures of you and your friends joining the beat for peace at Sudan365.org

DAVE STEWART, ARETHA FRANKLIN, Others to Appear at NYC Mandela Day Concert

     MUSIC NEWS - NYC will host the inaugural Mandela Day event on July 18, 2009 with a concert at Madison Square Garden to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday.  Mandela Day is a call for people around the world to honor Nelson Mandela’s inspiration and values. The hope is that people will observe the day annually not as a holiday, but as a day to join in and realize their full potential to make a difference to the world.

 

The concert will include a diverse lineup with artist such as; Dave Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Queen Latifah, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (first lady of France), Josh Groban, Cyndi Lauper, Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Jesse McCartney, TLC, The Soweto Gospel Choir, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Chris Chameleon, Freshlyground, Emmanuel Jal, Loyiso, Sipho Mabuse, Vusi Mahlasela, Thandiswa Mazwai and Suzanna Owiyo  (other performers are expected to be announced).  The concert is the culmination of a week-long series of events in New York City in celebration of the first-ever Mandela Day. 

 

Other celebrities will be giving their support;  Forest Whitaker, Sharon Stone and Susan Sarandon have already agreed to appear.  Tim Massey, International Director of 46664, said, “Mandela Day is about