The music video for Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ featuring Alicia Keys recently premiered. The video was shot in New York City’s Harlem, Times Square and around Ground Zero on October 1. The song, which is an ode to the rapper’s and singer’s native New York City, features a sampling of ‘Love on a Two-Way Street’ by The Moments. The video was directed by Hype Williams. Just the names of the two entertainers and the directors are enough proof to say that the video is hot but watching the video itself is an even greater experience. I absolutely love it!
The extremely successful rapper recently brought to light that he would in the past utterly crush his nephews at video games. Sadly, Jay-Z has lost this wonderful talent, as the singer himself admits: “My nephews didn’t beat me their entire lives, until now. They can destroy me now. I would never let them win because that meant they controlled the household, so I would just beat them mercilessly.” Right, control the house, beat them mercilessly? Is Jay-Z trying to transmit something more here… is he trying to get rid of some excess guilt because a few interesting ideas certainly come to mind.
U2 have confirmed via video blog that their sold-out concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California, Sunday 25th October 2009 will be streamed free, in full and live on YouTube. It’s the first time a show of this size will be streamed live.
The Rose Bowl show is the penultimate U2 show this year – with more to come in 2010 – and already is set to host the venue’s biggest ever audience of over 96, 000 fans. The 360˚ Tour, which has been critically acclaimed and “re-invents rock’n’roll”*, will now boast unique access for fans worldwide – as fans in territories yet to be visited by the tour, or not at all, will be able to enjoy the whole show online. Managed in partnership with Live Nation, this sell-out tour has broken attendance records in most venues it has visited – its success due in part to increased capacity coupled with a lower ticket price and great sight lines afforded by the stunning in-the-round stage set. Visit U2.com or youtube.com/u2official for details of how to join in this ground-breaking on-line event.
U2 manager Paul McGuinness said – “The band has wanted to do something like this for a long time. As we’re filming the LA show, it’s the perfect opportunity to extend the party beyond the stadium. Fans often travel long distances to come to see U2 – this time U2 can go to them, globally.”
YouTube will be streaming live across five continents. The show will be available in the usual You Tube way, as video-on-demand, following two full replays – after the live stream – on both U2.com and You Tube.
“YouTube is thrilled to be able to provide our global audience with a live streaming performance from one of the world’s greatest bands” – Chris Maxcy, Director of YouTube Partner Development. “We are always looking for new ways to connect fans around the world with their favourite artists, and this is the perfect opportunity to do just that.”
On November 2 at 11 p.m. ET, Fuse, the national music network, will televise the worldwide premiere of Nirvana Live at Reading, the band’s legendary, never-before-released 1992 Reading concert. The show, marking the first time that Nirvana fans will experience the epochal August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at UK’s Reading Festival, will debut as an hour long broadcast the night before the limited edition 90 minute CD+DVD Deluxe Edition is by Geffen/UMe.
Featuring 25 songs including “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “All Apologies” and “Come As You Are,” Nirvana’s performance at Reading ranked No. 1 in Kerrang Magazine’s “100 Gigs That Shook The World” chart and was voted as “Nirvana’s No. 1 Greatest Moment” by fans in a recent NME poll.
“Fuse is excited to provide Nirvana fans with the first opportunity to witness this historic music event since the concert 17 years ago,” said David Weier, vice president, programming, Fuse. “Not only are we airing a highly anticipated, never-before-seen concert in more than 65 million homes, we are providing Nirvana’s loyal fan base with companion programming for a comprehensive and unique viewing experience.”
Leading up to the premiere of Nirvana Live at Reading, Fuse will air “Loaded: Nirvana,” a half-hour of Nirvana’s greatest music videos at 10 p.m. ET, followed by “Videos That Rocked the World: Smells Like Teen Spirit,” a celebration of the legendary music video which was a breakthrough for music, entertainment, culture and society.
While the show’s centerpiece was a performance of nearly the entire Nevermind tracklist, also noteworthy were early performances of three as yet unrecorded songs which wouldn’t be released until 2 years later on In Utero: “All Apologies,” “Dumb,” and in its first ever public performance, “Tourettes.” The career-spanning setlist also reached back to the band’s 1989 Sub Pop debut album, Bleach, for “Blew,” “About A Girl,” “School,” “Negative Creep” and first single “Love Buzz,” and even further back to the mid-’80s for “Spank Thru.” Other songs from the Reading set would appear in studio form on the Incesticide compilation later in the year: “Aneurysm,” “Been A Son” and “Sliver.” Additionally, the band played a pair of beloved covers by two bands that helped shape the formative Nirvana sound– “The Money Will Roll Right In” by Fang and “D-7″ by The Wipers.
Tune in to The Ellen DeGeneres Show on October 20th to catch a performance from OneRepublic. The band will play their current single “All The Right Moves” which appears on their forthcoming album Waking Up due out on November 17th.
OneRepublic recently premiered the Wayne Isham (Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Metallica) directed video for the track which can be seen here.
Today, and for the next 3 weeks, AOL’s Noisecreep.com will be releasing an exclusive and/or unheard audio clip from the amazing FMQB Metallica/Alice in Chains interview, “Inside Alice In Chains: Black Gives Way To Blue.” This week’s clip features Metallica talking to Alice in Chains about their collaboration with Elton John on the song “Black Gives Way To Blue.” “It’s a really intense song, and a really open-hearted song to Layne and the experience that we went through,” Cantrell says to Hetfield and Ulrich about the title track. “Facing up to all of that stuff, and owning all the good, and owning all the bad, and moving forward together. It was a lot of big steps…things were pretty black for us. It’s pretty literal to that, and things are starting to get a little lighter.” Keep checking back in the coming weeks for parts 2 and 3 of this classic interview.
Breaking Benjamin lead singer Ben Burnley is going to be part of Xbox Live’s “Game With Fame” series tonight (10/15)! Ben will be playing “Call of Duty 4″ with the gamertag “BreakBen GwF” (make sure you put the space between BreakBen and GwF!) between the hours of 7pm-9pm EST. Anyone can play so all you need to do is log into XBox live and play “Call of Duty 4″. Make sure to bring your “A” game!
Breaking Benjamin have also just released their new album Dear Agony on September 29th. The album made a big splash at iTunes, debuting at Number 1 on the album chart.
Breaking Benjamin are also about to embark on a fall tour with Rev Theory, Sick Puppies (select dates), The Veer Union (select dates), and Adelitas Way.
Tour dates:
11/29/09 Sunken Garden Amphitheatre, San Antonio, TX
12/2/09 The Pavilion, Lubbock, TX
12/5/09 The Cotillion, Wichita, KS
12/6/09 Shrine Mosque, Springfield, MO
12/8/09 Val Air Ballroom, West Des Moines, IA
12/9/09 Sioux Falls Convention Center, Sioux Falls, SD
12/14/09 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
12/16/09 The Egyptian Room at Murat Centre, Indianapolis, IN
OneRepublic have just premiered the video for their new single “All The Right Moves.” The band takes the stage at a beautiful masquerade ball in the Wayne Isham (Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Metallica) directed clip. “All The Right Moves” will appear on OneRepublic’s forthcoming album Waking Up due out on 11/17.
OneRepublic “All The Right Moves” Music Video:
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Nirvana headlining at Reading in 1992 was something you had to see, and if you didn’t see it then it was something you pretended you saw.”
Kerrang (October 2003)
“The staggering energy and intensity radiating from the stage never let up… Cobain’s ravaged pop songs coming off like some dream marriage of the Sex Pistols and the Beatles, borne on bracing waves of distorted guitar noise.”
Rolling Stone (October 29, 1992)
Ranked #1 in Kerrang Magazine’s “100 Gigs That Shook The World” and voted as “Nirvana’s #1 Greatest Moment” by fans in an NME poll, Nirvana’s historic August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK’s Reading Festival is one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock n roll. Now, fans will have an opportunity to own a pristine copy of that entire performance — color-corrected video from the original film with audio sourced from the original multi-track masters. Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued in a limited edition CD+DVD Deluxe Edition as well as DVD-only, CD-only configurations on November 3, 2009, followed by a 2LP version on November 17, 2009.
While the show’s centerpiece was a performance of nearly the entire Nevermind tracklist, also noteworthy were early performances of three as yet unrecorded songs which wouldn’t be released until 2 years later on In Utero: “All Apologies,” “Dumb,” and in its first ever public performance, “Tourettes.” The career-spanning setlist also reached back to the band’s 1989 Sub Pop debut album, Bleach, for “Blew,” “About A Girl,” “School,” “Negative Creep” and first single “Love Buzz,” and even further back to the mid-‘80s for “Spank Thru.” Other songs from the Reading set would appear in studio form on the Incesticide compilation later in the year: “Aneurysm,” “Been A Son” and “Sliver.” Additionally, the band played a pair of beloved covers by two bands that helped shape the formative Nirvana sound – “The Money Will Roll Right In” by Fang and “D-7″ by The Wipers.
In case you missed it, Lady Gaga made her SNL debut! Besides performing “Paparazzi” and a “Poker Face” / “LoveGame” / “Bad Romance” medley, she was featured in two sketches with Andy Samberg, Kenan Thompson, and surprise guest Madonna! Check out all of Lady Gaga’s show-stealing moments below!
“Paparazzi” Live on SNL:
“Poker Face/LoveGame/Bad Romance Medley” Live on SNL:
Alice in Chains have just unveiled a “Making Of” video for the trippy “Check My Brain” video. Go behind the scenes with Jerry Cantrell and co. as they try and visually recreate the “Seasick” feeling of the “Check My Brain” riff with director Alex Courtes (U2 and White Stripes). The band has also released a live video of “Check My Brain” from their performance on the Jimmy Kimmel show on September 29th. The performance celebrated the release of the bands first new album in 14 years, Black Gives Way To Blue. The album is available everywhere now.
U2 kicked off the North American leg of their 360° Tour on September 13th, and cameras have been rolling during the shows and behind the scenes. Visit the official U2 YouTube channel to see video clips of songs from the concert, including “Your Blue Room” and “Vertigo” from the Chicago shows, a radio interview in Toronto, and an advance screening of an exclusive U2.com chat with the Edge.
Can’t get enough live U2? Download the new Blackberry app that lets you get inside the new album No Line On The Horizon. The app features song previews, news, tour updates, exclusive images of the band in the recording studio and on the road, and more! Find out the specifics on the Blackberry website.
No Line On The Horizon is U2’s twelfth studio album and is available now, in stores or through iTunes.
Check out the new TV spot for Madonna’s Celebration CD. The Queen of Pop’s Ultimate Hits Collection is due out next week on September 29th and features digitally remastered versions of “34 songs that changed the world” plus 2 brand new tracks. The release will also be available as a single CD as well as a Premium Version which will include the Celebration Video Collection DVD.
Watch a new version of Madonna’s “Celebration” featuring real fans! The video was shot on location in Barcelona and Milan during the Sticky and Sweet Tour 2009, and also features Madonna’s teen daughter Lourdes giving homage to her mother’s classic “Like A Virgin” video. “Celebration” is the title track from the Queen of Pop’s forthcoming greatest hits compilation due out on September 29th.
Want to become a part of Madonna history? Dress up in your favorite Madonna looks, film your own version of the video, and enter the “Celebration” video contest. Simply upload the video to Myspace and email the entry to madonnnacontest@warnerreprise.com by Sunday, September 27th. The best ones will be featured on Madonna.com and Myspace.com.
Check out a series of flip cam videos self-shot by the hip-hop group Shwayze. Each video gives you a look into the fun and crazy lifestyle that the Malibu-based duo lives behind the scenes and on tour. Watch the clips below and head over to Shwayze.com
for more information and a list of upcoming tour dates. Get excited for the release of their new album, Let It Beat, available October 27th featuring the hit single “Get U Home.”
The All-American Rejects got busy in New York City this week starting off with a special performance of their hit single “Gives You Hell.”
They took the stage with house band Wale at MTV’s VMAs show where front man Tyson Ritter debuted a new glittery look. After rocking the proverbial house, Ritter caught up with MTV news
and confirmed the long standing rumor that he will in fact be teaming up with pop powerhouse Rihanna for a yet to be recorded track. With AAR’s stock rising by the day, it only made sense for the quartet to cap their week by ringing the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange
The All-American Rejects’ album When The World Comes Down featuring “Gives You Hell” and “I Wanna” is in stores now. For more information visit allamericanrejects.com
Tokio Hotel have just premiered the video for “Automatic!” Head over to TokioHotel.com
today to check out the sci-fi themed video shot in the South African desert. The band also recently unveiled the cover for their forthcoming album Humanoid due out on October 6th.
Legal documents were recently filed asking a judge to hold a reporter in the Chris Brown case in contempt of court. According to the documents, Russell Alan Wetanson runs a website that posted a video of interviews in the hallway outside the courtroom where the singer pled guilty to felony assault. Court rules prohibit that kind of taping. Wetanson, who also happens to be a lawyer, was notified by the public information officer of the court regarding the violation and the videos have since been removed from his website. However, a contempt hearing could now be set which makes it a possibility for Wetanson to be sent to jail. Why couldn’t they do that to Chris instead?
