News

Germany: Memorial Service For Love Parade Victims

2010-07-31T19:01:00Z

Thousands of grief-stricken mourners watched in tears on Saturday as rescue workers lit one white candle for every one of the 21 people crushed to death in a tunnel at the Love Parade techno music festival.

Around 500 people attended the mourning ceremony at Salvator church in the western city of Duisburg - the scene of the tragedy a week ago - and many times more watched the event on screens in the city's football stadium and a dozen other churches. Several TV stations carried the service live, and flags across the country flew at half-mast.

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"The Love Parade was danced to death," Nikolaus Schneider, the head of the Rhineland Lutheran church assembly, said in his opening sermon, following somber organ music and prayers for the deceased. "In the middle of a celebration of lust for life, death showed its ugly face to all of us."

The 21 people who died were aged 18 to 38 and included foreigners from Spain, Australia, Italy, Bosnia, China and Holland. Another 500 persons were injured, some 25 of them are still in hospital.

Among those at Salvator church were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Christian Wulff, family members of the victims and many relief workers who had helped rescue the injured.

Franz-Josef Overbeck, the Roman Catholic bishop of the neighboring city of Essen, said: "Life can be so oppositional: One moment there is a party, the next moment we are lying helplessly on the ground."

"We want to stir our life in secure ways, but don't have it under control."

The ceremony was led by the two Roman Catholic and Lutheran Protestant clerics - representing Germany's two main denominations. Several rescue workers also spoke, as well as the governor of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia - where Duisburg is located.

Visibly shaken, Hannelore Kraft talked about the many partygoers who survived the mass panic and now had to find ways to live on with their traumatic experiences. Her own son, 17-year-old Jan, also attended the Love Parade, but was not injured. For several hours after the tragedy, the governor was not able to contact him because the cell phone system in Duisburg had collapsed.

"There are many thousands who survived but whose souls were injured," Kraft said. "They are suffering in silence."

After the ceremony, the families of the victims were shielded from reporters and camera teams and taken to an unknown place where they had the chance to talk to counselors and priests.

In the afternoon, a few hundred mourners marched from the city's train station to the direction of the tunnel. They were holding white balloons, but were not allowed to enter the tunnel, which had been blocked by police out of security concerns.

Anger has been building in recent days over the city's and organizer's resistance to take on responsibility for the deaths. Over 250 people protested in Duisburg on Thursday and demanded the resignation of the city's mayor, Adolf Sauerland.

People blame Sauerland and the city's authorities for failing to adequately plan for the event. Private organizers also have come under fire for allegedly trying to squeeze as many as 1.4 million revelers into too small a space and for allowing only one access point onto the festival grounds. Until now, it is not clear how many people exactly attended the Love Parade, but more current estimates speak of only 150,000 to 300,000 persons. Initially, the organizers had said that 1.4 million partygoers had come to Duisburg to dance and celebrate.

A preliminary report by police investigators Wednesday accused the organizer of the Love Parade of major security breaches which may have led to the crush. But it left many unanswered questions regarding the responsibility of the Duisburg municipality, which was to oversee the event.

The crush occurred in the jam-packed tunnel that was the sole entrance point to the festival grounds.

Since the tragedy, hundreds of people have lit candles, left notes and placed flowers on the site of the deaths and injuries.

Margaret Cho Submits To The Q&A

2010-07-31T01:01:00Z

Comedienne / actress Margaret Cho is known to veer into NSFW territory while doing standup. But speaking with the comedienne / actress is an entirely different experience, more like having tea with a cheerful and polite young lady who just happens to make a living delivering jokes mixed with raunch.

One-liners, conceptual humor and a rabid wit represent only one side of the multi-talented artist. As an actress she starred in the ABC Television comedy “All American Girl” in 1994 and currently appears in “Drop Dead Diva” on Lifetime. Her credits also include appearances on television programs like “Ghost Whisperer,” “‘Til Death” and “Sex And The City” and her movie appearances include “Face/Off” and “17 Again.”

Cho’s upcoming CD, Cho Dependent, drops Aug. 24 and is comprised of humorous songs Cho wrote and performed with a wide range of musical artists, including Brendan Benson, Fiona Apple, Patty Griffin, Andrew Bird, Ben Lee, Ani DiFranco, Tegan and Sara, Grant Lee Phillips, Garrison Starr and Jon Brion. And, as if Cho isn’t funny enough by herself, Tommy Chong provides a few extra laughs.

Cho launches her “Cho Dependent” tour Aug. 15 in Provincetown, Mass. The very funny lady recently spoke with Pollstar about the CD, her experience working with musicians and her outlook on comedy.

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On your new CD you’re accompanied by a list of artists ranging from Tegan and Sara to Fiona Apple to Ani DiFranco. What was it like to work with folks not necessarily known for comedy?

I’m not a very good musician. I can play many instruments – guitar, piano, banjo and dulcimer. However, I’m not a composer. I wanted to do an album like this for a long time, but I was in need of people who could write music with me, that could do it justice. I wanted to do a comedy album that was both funny but also had a lot of lasting merit, musically.

So I enlisted all these people, many of which are my dear and good friends. It started with Jon Brion, who is a tremendous musician, singer / songwriter and great producer. He and I wrote songs together. He taught me a lot of guitar chords and helped me out.

Everyone I approached to do it really thought it was a great idea and wanted to do it. I was very lucky.

How much did the artists contribute? For example, the track with Ani DiFranco – “Captain Cameltoe” – who came up with the title?

That was my title. I love Ani. I did a number of shows with her many years ago, and I had been a big, big fans for years. I wanted to do a song that was reminiscent of “Comic Strip” by Serge Gainsbourg. It was about a superhero, but tongue-in-cheek. Like it wasn’t really a heroic song but about a very practical, down-to-earth hero, which I think “Comic Strip” is. But you also have percussive elements – a person going “Pow! Kazoom! Blammo!” – which is not in the song.

So she wrote this great, bouncy musical element. We used a sample from Billy Martin of Medeski Martin & Wood. She built this great track and played all the instruments on it. We recorded the vocals in her amazing home studio in New Orleans. It was a great experience for me to hang out and record with her.

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The song titles on the CD aren’t exactly radio-friendly, are they? It’s hard to imagine a radio DJ saying “here’s Margaret Cho with her latest hit, “Eat Shit And Die.”

There’s definitely a place for profanity in pop music. There always has been, and there’s a need for it. I definitely filled that, I hoped.

Are comedy albums a double-edged sword? Robin Williams, George Carlin and Steve Martin were just a few of the comedians that, after having hit albums, found audiences demanding what they heard on the recordings, and were not necessarily receptive to new material. Do you ever encounter that problem?

I think what is always a challenge to a comedian is that you have to do material that’s so much better than what you’ve done before, and the audience doesn’t care and forgets what you’ve already done. Even if they’ve seen you before, you have to constantly reinvent and make yourself better.

The way this CD is a little different is because it’s musical. There is this idea that the song is a joke, and when you go to see music, you want to hear them play the hits. Hopefully, there will be that too when I do these songs live.

I’ve put out a number of comedy albums and I haven’t felt like the audience is wanting to hear what they’ve heard before, just because I’m constantly trying to improve on what I did before.

What comedy albums did you listen to while growing up?

I had Richard Pryor’s. I had Steve Martin’s A Wild and Crazy Guy. Robin Williams’ Reality… What A Concept was an important album. I was a big fan of comedy albums.

Also the music of “Weird Al” Yankovic, who was a major influence on me while making this record as was listening to Dr. Demento on the radio. All the songs I heard on his program really helped form my idea of what comedy should be.

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Is making a successful comedy album something of a lost art?

It is. It’s very old fashioned, but it’s coming back. It’s becoming very chic for younger comics, people who are starting off and want to have that very important first comedy album.

I’ve also seen a renaissance in comedy music, like Flight Of The Conchords and Tenacious D, making great music as well as great comedy.

How will you present the material on the new CD?

It’s going to take different forms. I’m inviting a lot of people who collaborated with me to come on the road with me and actually do the songs. Or I will perform to tracks, to retain the production. Or in different places, different bands. For me, it’s about retaining the integrity of the album, which is produced so beautifully that I just want to make sure it sounds great. I want it to sound like the record.

Do you have a concert rider – one of those contract additions spelling out your needs and desires?

Yes, but mine are very minimal. The artist eventually has to pay for that. It’s taken out of the check. I have the most basic rider. I like to go on the “Smoking Gun” website that lists the elaborate riders, like people asking for all-white dressing rooms.

To me, you’re there for such a limited time, why do you want to use your resources, why do you want to do that? For me, I just want some mints and water.

No joke requirements?

Sometimes there’s a different food on there, but it’s not really glamorous. I got to buy it, you know? I’m not really into making a big deal. I used to have Diet Coke on there. But it was too hard.

Is it easier for a female comedian now than when you started out?

I don’t know if it’s easier for women comics in general. It’s easier for me because I don’t think about it anymore. I’m performing on my own terms. When you’re on the road as much as I am, you go outside it [the comic community]. So I’m not that involved with it as I used to be.

In general I think it’s hard for women. There’s not the support that the guys have in terms of coming up and starting out. There’s more men in comedy. There always has been.

If your comedy persona was a rock band, which one would it be?

I would like to be like The Beach Boys – crazy fucked-up and unexpected, but beautiful. Like you want to retain a kind of mystery, legend and chaos a band like The Beach Boys would have. There are so many different mythologies, death and destruction. But at the same time there’s so much beauty.

I went through this phase where I listened only to The Beach Boys for two years. I just grew to appreciate all the nuances. People think it’s just surfing music but it’s so beyond all of that. It’s really American opera, American tragedy. I would like to be like The Beach Boys.

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Is there any subject too taboo?

I don’t think so. On the album, even for me, there’s a lot of depth. There’s a song called “I’m Sorry” which I wrote with Andrew Bird, that deals with someone I was very in love with who broke my heart. I was in love with him for 17 years. I never Googled him because I didn’t want to find him happy, married with children, living in a lighthouse somewhere and super-successful.

I turned 40 and thought, “I still love this guy. I should find out where he is.”

I Googled him and his name came up. It said, “married screenwriter, producer, worked with Margaret Cho on “All American Girl.”

And in 2007 he was convicted of murdering his wife. He bludgeoned her to death and then stuck her in the attic for a month until she had partially mummified.

And I was so horrified. The fact that I had loved this person for 17 years, I was mortified at the tragedy. I felt so bad for this woman and her family. I was so upset. It could have been me, but it couldn’t be me. I couldn’t be that, I couldn’t even be murdered.

So I wrote this song with Andrew Bird because I was so upset, but also because I wanted to understand domestic violence. I think a lot of country music is about this. A lot of music I listen to is women dealing with domestic violence – Tammy Wynette, Etta James or Billie Holiday. That, to me, is the most taboo thing you can talk about – domestic violence, murder and bloodshed and the heartache that goes all around that.

I don’t think any subject is taboo. Certainly not for songwriting and certainly not for joke writing. Sometimes dark humor is the only way to rise above tragedy, and I think that’s the best way to look at it.

But it also takes a lot of skill for a comedian to take an audience on that journey. After all, they’re there to laugh.

Absolutely. Sometimes the darkest places is where we get the funniest material. Comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin, and that you have to be able to find a way through it. Sometimes humor is the only way to find salvation, so it is a level of skill.

The greatest songwriters to me are the darkest and funniest. People like Morrissey or Bob Dylan have so much grace and humor, but darkness in their writing. And that’s how try to approach songwriting.

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Is it harder to be funny today than it was when you started your career?

Oh, yes. It’s because I’ve done so much. And part of being a comedian, is defining your self and there are literally so many ways or so many words to define your self. And you’re always trying to be better than before. It becomes more challenging. You’re always trying to do different things.

For me, I found a lot of help in music where it’s a different kind of writing. Even though it’s still comedy to me it’s more of an elaborate performance. It’s still very difficult. It’s a hard job.

Do you improvise while on stage or is it all planned out?

It’s all planned out. I’m not that much of an improviser although I have done it before. Sometimes you have to do it in live performance. It just happens and there’s no way around it. So yes and no. I don’t plan on it, but sometimes you can’t help it.

Do you have any one-liners reserved for hecklers?

I actually don’t have that problem. I haven’t had to deal with it. It’s better to deal with it in the immediacy of the situation and use the environment you’re in. It’s better to do that than rely on a stock answer. I think people can appreciate being in the moment than something that’s prepared. Generally if you just say, “Fuck you,” it works.”

Do you write all your stand-up material, or do you collaborate with someone?

I write everything. I would love to have a writer. I actually tried that before. People would come to see me, like comics, but afterwards say they can’t write for me. It’s too hard of a perspective. Maybe if there was another Asian-American woman who thought like I thought, it might work. I would love the help, but I haven’t had that.

As someone who writes her own material, what is it like for you when you’re in a TV show or movie and saying someone else’s lines, like in “Drop Dead Diva.”

I appreciate the show and I like it a lot. So it’s easy to step into the roll. It’s simple to do. You just walk over there and say that. Or what ever. For me, the acting thing is simple and easy to figure out. If you believe in the integrity of the story line and what they’re doing, then it’s not a hard thing to do. It’s a different way of working and thinking for me, but I really like it.

If you weren’t a comedienne, what would you be doing?

I’d be a veterinarian. I love animals. I have two dogs, which is a great joy. I think the connections people have to pets are sacred bonds. When it comes to animals I’m really good with them.

You’ve done a lot of press throughout the years. Is there anything no one has ever asked you?

No one has ever asked me about my favorite color. I’d have to say it’s royal blue.

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Margaret Cho’s “Cho Dependent” tour begins with several dates at The Medeira Room / Vixen in Provincetown, Mass., Aug. 15-18 and 20-24. Then she heads to Portland, Ore., for a night at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Aug. 26; plays Seattle’s Paramount Theatre Aug. 27 and stops in Vancouver for a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Aug. 28.

Other stops include Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Anaheim, San Diego, Minneapolis, Boston, Montreal Washington, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami Beach and just about every city where people need a good laugh.

For more information, click here for the Margaret Cho website.

The Dissent Of Bad Religion

2010-07-31T00:01:00Z

Bad Religion plans to finish out 2010 with a bang as the veteran punk rockers tour the U.S. in support of their fifteenth studio album.

This spring the band celebrated three decades of music by playing back to back shows at House of Blues venues in Anaheim, Calif., San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The fall headline tour will keep the party going, kicking things off Oct. 7 at Clutch Cargo’s in Pontiac, Mich. Shows are on the books through a Nov. 18 gig at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.

Bad Religion will also be making stops at Bogart’s in Cincinnati (Oct. 11), Electric Factory in Philadelphia (Oct. 19), Roseland Ballroom in New York (Oct. 20), Fillmore Auditorium in Denver (Nov. 12), In The Venue in Salt Lake City (Nov. 13) and Showbox SoDo in Seattle (Nov. 17).

The band is bringing along The Bouncing Souls and Off With Their Heads as opening acts.

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The Dissent of Man is set for release Sept. 28 and is available for pre-order now through the band’s website.

“These are some of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. A few of them took me way outside my comfort zone as a writer to a place I haven’t gone since Recipe or Stranger than Fiction,” guitarist Brett Gurewitz said about the new album.

“I feel like the last couple of records have been amongst our most conservative, never straying too far from a Bad Religion sound. Whereas on this one we’re taking the songs to a lot of different places, exploring our influences and trying out some new things in a way we haven’t done in years.”

Click here for Bad Religion’s website.

Straight Talking Hag

2010-07-30T23:01:00Z

Merle Haggard probably gives the best interviews of any music artist alive today. Always honest, always controversial, The Hag recently expounded on a variety of topics, including giving up marijuana and the first time he met Johnny Cash. He also offered some unsolicited advice to Lindsay Lohan on how to act while in prison.

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Vanity Fair is the place for Haggard’s latest Q&A, where the 73-year-old country music legend talked about hopping freight trains, doing prison time and why he doesn’t sign autographs. But most of all, his answers to VF’s Eri Spitznagel’s questions remind us why he’s Merle Haggard.

Some choice answers:

Haggard describes meeting up with Johnny Cash for the very first time, painting a picture of two guys standing next to each other in a Chicago television station restroom.

“I was aware there was somebody standing beside me at the urinals. But you don’t look at the other guy. And then I heard him say, ‘Haggerty, you ever do anything like this?’ And I looked and it was Johnny Cash and he had a pill in his hand.”

As you can guess, Haggard wasn’t the type back in the day to just say no.

“It was a Dexedrine pill to help you stay awake. Back in those days, everybody took ‘em. The preachers took ‘em. It wasn’t a big deal. I stuck the pill in my mouth, and then Johnny pulled a flask from under his vest, which was loaded with wine. And he said, ‘Here, you can wash it down with this.’”

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These days Haggard probably wouldn’t be as apt to say yes to a pill, even it was offered by someone as well-known as Cash. He recently quite smoking marijuana, saying he “never got over it.”

“Anybody who says it’s not habit-forming is a damn liar. I’ve had friends tell me, I can quit marijuana anytime I want. Bullshit! (Laughs.) I called a friend of mine, a big music producer whose name you’d probably recognize, and I said to him, ‘I heard you quit pot,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I did.’ I asked him, ‘Well shit, how long do these goddamn withdrawals last?’ And he said, ‘It lasted 45 days for me. And then I just started smoking again.’”

You can’t talk about Haggard without mentioning prison. After numerous run-ins with the law while still a juvenile, Haggard hit crime’s big time in the late ‘50s when he was sentenced to three years in San Quentin for attempting to rob a tavern. So he knows what prison life is like, and he has some advice for actress Lindsay Lohan, saying she needs to be honest and can’t act as if she’s better than her fellow inmates.

“I really do feel sorry for her. She’s going to have to straighten out her life, otherwise she’ll be dead by the time she’s 30. That’s the bottom line.”

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Click here to read the complete interview at VanityFair.com.

Free Concerts Cut

2010-07-30T22:01:00Z

Free concerts can’t make ends meet without an audience, so the promoter of a complimentary series recently scrapped his last three shows in Syracuse, N.Y., citing low attendance.

Wednesdays on the Water consisted of weekly summer concerts at the city’s Great Lawn at the Inner Harbor. While the series opener with Great White drew roughly 7,000, promoter Marc Albert told the local Post-Standard attendance and concession revenues fizzled for later shows.

“The attendance was terrible,” Albert said. “The series [budget] was based on attendance and [subsequent] concession figures. The last few weeks, it hasn’t been there. I can only go so deep out of pocket … All I could see was a deeper loss.”

Albert said his company, Marc Albert Enterprises, had settled up with the bands and crews for the events so far, but suffered a loss “over six figures.”

Performances were canceled featuring former Foreigner singer Lou Gramm, the local Todd Hobin Band and Dickey Betts & Great Southern.

Albert told the Post-Standard he wondered whether the economy was involved in the flop, but he also questioned whether he picked the wrong lineup for the city.

“I was trying to do the right thing by doing free events with a great venue and great atmosphere,” he said. “Obviously, I picked something wrong. What I thought was a promising venture, the attendance and concessions really didn’t pan out.”

Click here to read the complete Post-Standard article.

U2 Scores For The Irish

2010-07-30T21:01:00Z

U2’s concert at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin Aug. 6 has caused Italian soccer club Juventus – which plays its home games there – to move its Europa League clash scheduled for the same night to Modena.

Modena is 200 miles away, so the Turin-based side may feel they’ve not been given home advantage in either match of the two-legged tie.

The team to benefit – in the sense it’ll be playing the first match at home and the second on a neutral ground – is Irish side Shamrock Rovers, which comes from U2’s home city of Dublin.

“Apparently U2 have the stadium booked as part of their European tour so the venue is being moved to Modena,” Shamrock Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche told the Irish Times.

U2 has booked the venue for the next two weeks to rehearse for the return of their 360° tour after Bono’s back injury forced the band to postpone dates including a headline slot at Glastonbury Festival.

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Click here to read the Irish Times article.

Beak> Flying To U.S.

2010-07-30T20:01:00Z

Portishead multi-instrumentalist/producer Geoff Barrow is hopping across the Atlantic this September along with his Britsol, U.K., band Beak> for a quick U.S. tour.

Beak> was formed in January 2009 and features Barrow along with The Moles’ Billy Fuller and Team Brick’s Matt Williams.

The Daily Telegraph says the band “explores the unmathematical, analogue grooves of Krautrock, with driving motorik beats, hypnotic basslines, intense swells of organ and mantric vocals.” The Guardian notes that Beak> “bears traces of Portishead’s eeriness, but also that of heavier acts signed to Barrow’s Invada Records label.”

The group released its self-titled debut in October 2009. All 12 tracks were written over a 12-day session and then recorded live in one room with “no overdubs or repair, only using edits to create arrangements.”

The U.S. tour, which marks Beak>’s first stateside shows, begins Sept. 3 at Bowery Ballroom in New York, followed by a Sept. 4 slot at All Tomorrow’s Parties festival at Kutshers Country Club & Resort in Monticello, N.Y.

Additional dates include The Independent in San Francisco (Sept. 7) and Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif. (Sept. 10).

Beak> has also lined up two in-store performances at Amoeba Music, playing San Francisco’s location Sept. 8 as well as the Hollywood, Calif., store Sept. 9.

The band says it is “traveling on a diplomatic mission to the United States to rebuild the special relationship between our two great countries.

“They will do this by performing music in several cities and returning to you the multinational companies McDonalds, Walmart and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, then in return we will take British Petroleum and their oil spill back to the United Kingdom shores to be dealt with by the proper authorities, the government of her royal highness the Queen of England.”

Click here for Beak>’s website.

Bareilles Has Her Own Tour To Do

2010-07-30T19:01:00Z

Currently appearing on Lilith Fair, Sara Bareilles launches a fall headlining tour beginning Sept. 25 in Portland, Ore.

The tour launches a little more than two weeks after Bareilles’ second album, Kaleidoscope Heart, lands in stores Sept. 7.

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Beginning at Portland’s Roseland Ballroom Sept. 25, Bareilles then travels to Los Angeles for a show at the Orpheum Theatre Sept. 28, plays San Diego’s House Of Blues Sept. 29 and heads eastward for a gig in Tempe, Ariz., at the Marquee Theatre Sept. 30. Other stops include Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Orlando, Nashville, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, New York, Denver, Boise and Vancouver before wrapping up in Reno at the Knitting Factory Concert House Nov. 24.

Here’s how support is shaping up. Greg Laswell Sept. 25-Oct. 18; Javier Dunn Sept. 25-Oct. 4; Cary Brothers Nov. 2-Nov. 24 and Holly Conlan Oct. 7-Nov. 24.

Looking for a ticket deal? Pre-order Kaleidoscope Heart through Bareilles’ website and you’ll automatically gain priority access to a presale beginning Aug. 3. Public onsales begin Aug. 6. For more information, click here for sarabmusic.com.

Beer & Whiskey Fest to Benefit Gulf Coast Relief

2010-07-30T18:01:00Z

We knew something was up when several of our coworkers started talking about going to Atlanta on Sept. 5.

Then we saw the announcement heralding the 6th annual Beer & Whiskey Festival and all the pieces suddenly fell into place.

The festival, held Labor Day weekend at Atlanta’s Park Tavern, features, well, beer and whiskey, barbecue and a musical lineup consisting of five tribute bands, including Guns N’ Roses facsimile Mr. Brownstone, Def Leppard doppelgänger Hysteria, U2 & Van Halen tribute band Running With Desire, Police tribute band Invisible Sun aka Sun Domingo and Green Day cover band Nimrod. DJ Suspense will spin between bands.

The Beer & Whiskey Fest started six years ago when Park Tavern owner Paul Smith along with a local radio station and special events company USA Entertainment worked together to raise $6,000 for the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina almost turned out the lights in New Orleans for good. Since then, the festival has always been about charity, and has spent four years raising funds for PAWS, Atlanta’s largest no-kill animal shelter.

This year the Beer & Whiskey Festival will raise dollars for the Nature Conservancy and its efforts to protect coastal wetlands and marshes, reestablish habitats for threatened species and help bring the Gulf back to pre-BP-oil-spill standards.

Of course, reading this far into this posting means only one thing – you’ve come for the beer & whiskey. Or maybe just the beer. Or whiskey. Or perhaps just a shot and a chaser. No matter, here’s the info you seek.

The festival’s cash bar features George Dickel Tennessee Whisky #12, Crown Royal Black Canadian Whisky, Bushmills and Bulleit Bourbon. Beers include Harp Lager, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Red Stripe Lager Light and Smirnoff Premium Malt. For mixed drinks they’re serving up a potent potable called Blue Berry Lemonade.

There will also be a charity whisky tasting and a charity auction. For more info, click here for the Beer & Whiskey Festival’s website.

Meat Loaf Postpones Canada

2010-07-30T17:01:00Z

Flu has forced Meat Loaf to drop his “Hang Cool” run through the Great White North.

You gotta figure it takes a big flu bug to take down the big guy. Meat Loaf nixed a couple of shows last week and eventually postponed his Canadian dates scheduled July 29-Aug. 8 in Edmonton, Dawson Creek, Calgary, Prince George, Abbotsford and Penticton.

A messages on Calgary’s Southern Jubilee Auditorium website says doctors, describing Meat Loaf as suffering from “flu like symptoms, prescribed two-weeks rest and that concert organizers are working to reschedule the dates. Meat Loaf’s next scheduled stop is Aug. 12 at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk in Universal City, Calif.

Click here for the Meat Loaf website.

Rocker Dee Snider Is Normal 1 In `Twisted' Show

2010-07-30T16:01:00Z

As the lead singer of Twisted Sister, the costumed makeup-wearing heavy metal band, Dee Snider has spent most of his 34 years as a rock star all fired up.

Whether it's the excitement of the stage or a fit of pique over the refusal of a fan in the last row to stand up and rock out along with everyone else, Snider's public persona has been a raging maniac who would live in silence if he didn't have obscenities to toss around.

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He once got an entire sports arena to point and shout vulgarities at a section of fans who were sitting down during a concert, only to find out after the show that he had unwittingly targeted the handicapped section. And he told Tipper Gore she had a dirty mind during a U.S. Senate hearing in 1985 in which the Gores were pushing for warning labels on rock records due to their lyrical content.

So it comes as more than a little surprise that Snider is the normal cast member on "Growing Up Twisted," the latest in a long string of rock star reality shows.

The show, which debuted this week on A&E, follows the day-to-day lives of Snider, his wife Suzette, and their four children: Jesse, 27, an aspiring rock musician; Shane, 22, a standup comic; Cody, 20, a filmmaker and general wise-aleck; and Cheyenne, 13, who is making the tough transition to teenager.

Snider swears his calm demeanor isn't an act.

"For me, it works great because when, for a living, you're nuts, you don't want to come home and do what you do on the radio or onstage or on TV," he said in an interview.

"The typical return from a tour was me curled up in the fetal position under the pool table and Suzette saying, `Come on out and join us!' For me, I just want to shut ... up. I shut up and my family entertains me. It's awesome!"

It's also jarring, coming from the man who wrote "We're Not Gonna Take It" and until recently performed in a corset, thigh-high boots, and pink and blue makeup.

"I'm the quiet one of the house and I'm like the voice of reason, and everybody's kind of bouncing off the walls here," he said.

The debut episode dealt with the couple's 34th wedding anniversary and Suzette's special gift for her husband: She dyed her pubic hair pink and trimmed it into a heart-shape. (No, not on camera.)

Dee and Suzette's marriage is a central axis of the show, starting from the day in April 1976 when she sneaked into a small club on New York's Long Island with her cousin's ID to see Twisted Sister. She was one of seven people in the audience that night, so it wasn't hard to catch the attention of Snider, who was wearing hot pants, stockings and a T shirt that read, "I'm Dee," then suggested a particular sexual favor.

"She walked up to the front of the stage and made the mistake of smiling at me, which, of course, is the international sign to any male that you want him," Snider said. "I saw her and I was instantly smitten."

One problem: He was 21, she was 15. After the show, Suzette acknowledged she really wasn't 18, as her cousin's ID said. Dee asked her how old she thought he was.

"Maybe late 20s, early 30s?" she replied, to his horror.

Love blossomed from there, although it had to detour around stern admonitions - OK, threats - from Suzette's family.

"Suzette and my courtship and eventual marriage is really just a series of horrible mistakes on her part, but proof positive that there's some kind of divine force out there guiding things," he said. "Eventually, she just got used to me. And 34 years later, she's still smiling at me across the room. And she loves me!"

The show borrows stylistically from another hit of the genre, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," also on A&E, starring the KISS bassist and his family.

"I look at those shows and I look at Gene and I go, `Oh my God, it's so nice and PEACEFUL over there! Everybody's calm and relaxed.'"

Future episodes of "Growing Up Twisted" include child welfare authorities investigating the family when Cheyenne's nose is bloodied in a boxing match with her mother, a store clerk making inappropriate comments about Suzette's chest, Suzette pushing Dee to get his vasectomy reversed so they can have another baby, and Jesse and Cheyenne joining their dad and Lita Ford onstage at an Atlantic City casino for a family jam session.

The real scene-stealer in many episodes is Cody, who is so irreverent, funny and in-your face that his father says his name should be spelled "Co-Dee" - because he's so much like his old man.

Snider describes his parenting style as "a cross between Herman Munster and Cliff Huxtable."

"I'm weird but wise," he said. "I just hope the show says to people that being married and having kids is not the end of life as you know it."

Sounds like he's gonna take it, after all.

Source: J-Lo Close To Deal For `American Idol'

2010-07-30T15:01:00Z

Former "Fly Girl" Jennifer Lopez is poised to return to television - this time as a judge on "American Idol."

The singer-dancer-actor was close to signing a deal to join Fox TV's hit singing contest, a person familiar with the negotiations said late Thursday. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly, spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Fox declined comment. Phone and e-mail messages for Lopez's representatives were not immediately returned.

The "American Idol" opening for Lopez comes with comedian-talk show host Ellen DeGeneres' departure from the show.

Degeneres announced Thursday she was leaving after one year as judge.

"A couple months ago, I let Fox and the `American Idol' producers know that this didn't feel like the right fit for me," DeGeneres said in a statement. The comedian-talk show host said she realized that while she "loved discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings."

In May, Simon Cowell exited after nine seasons to start a new talent show for Fox.

Those under consideration for his spot, according to reports, are a varied group that includes Steven Tyler and Harry Connick Jr.

Lopez' films include "Selena," "The Wedding Planner" and most recently "The Back-Up Plan." She has appeared as a mentor on "American Idol."

She was part of the "Fly Girl" house dancers on the comedy show "In Living Color" in 1990 before becoming a backup dancer for Janet Jackson.

Lopez's first album, On the 6, came out in 1999, launching a career in pop, Latin, hip-hop and R&B. Love? is the latest CD from the Grammy-winner, who has twins with husband Marc Anthony.

Two new judges could help "American Idol" reinvent itself for its January return, when it will try to stem a ratings slide and bring in younger viewers. The show's audience has been gradually aging, and advertisers prefer to pitch to young adults.

Judge Kara DioGuardi, who was added to the panel two years ago, is not under contract for next year and Fox has not announced whether she'll return. Original judge Randy Jackson is the fourth panel member.

With audition episodes featuring the judges set to begin filming in September, the pressure is on to announce the panel. On Monday, Fox will have a chance to do that when it presents its 2010-11 programs to a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

When DeGeneres joined the show as a replacement for Paula Abdul, proclaiming herself a fan of "American Idol" and a pop aficionado, observers noted she didn't bring music industry expertise to her role. Some complained she proved more of a cheerleader than an incisive critic in the mold of Cowell.

She had a reported five-year contract.

"American Idol" was the nation's favorite program last season, the seventh time it's held that position. But it showed rare vulnerability, beaten in the weekly ratings several times by ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

A total of 24.2 million viewers watched the ninth season's final duel between Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox, compared to the nearly 29 million viewers who saw Kris Allen claim victory over Adam Lambert last year.

Peas 'I Gotta Feeling' Hits 6M Download Mark

2010-07-30T14:01:00Z

The Black Eyed Peas have more proof of the ubiquity of "I Gotta Feeling."

Their No. 1 hit has become the first song to reach the 6 million mark in digital downloads.

The milestone was announced Friday and confirmed by Nielsen SoundScan. For the group's leader, will.i.am, the moment is about much more than the song.

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"We came out in '98 and our career, if you would look at it on chart, there's no dips in it," he said in a phone interview Thursday. "For our career to still be healthy and vibrant and doing things like 6 million downloads, it's pretty significant."

It's also significant, he said, in a time when illegal downloading is the norm.

"That means that they chose to support the group, support the art," he said. "God knows how many people listened to it online and didn't buy it, downloaded it for free and didn't think about it."

The upbeat song about good vibes was No. 1 for 14 weeks; will.i.am said the reason it was so successful was because it gave people hope in a downward time.

"It's a positive, feel-good song at the time where there's question marks and uncertainty. People want to be reminded that it's going to be all right," he said.

The song was one of the hits from the group's multiplatinum The E.N.D., which was released last year. Although it is still on the charts, will.i.am said a new album, "The Beginning," is almost finished and likely due at the end of the year.

"It symbolizes growth, new beginnings and starts, fresh new perspective," he said.

German Rage Over Festival Deaths Focuses On Mayor

2010-07-30T13:01:00Z

The mayor of the German city where 21 people were crushed to death at a music festival last weekend is facing growing pressure to resign amid nationwide outrage over the tragedy.

Mayor Adolf Sauerland appears to be losing support even from his own conservative party in the fallout from the disaster that also injured more than 500 people.

Wolfgang Bosbach, a leading lawmaker with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, said late Thursday that he believes the mayor bears political responsibility for possible mistakes made by the city.

Anger has been building in recent days ahead of a memorial for the victims planned for Saturday, which Merkel and President Christian Wulff are to attend.

Sauerland has said he would not attend Saturday's memorial out of respect for the feelings for the victims and their loved ones.

However, he has rejected calls that he resign saying he feels he has done nothing wrong and that resigning now would imply that he and city administrators had done something wrong.

On Thursday about 250 people waged a protest in central Duisburg demanding his resignation. Some chanted "Sauerland, Go!"

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A preliminary report by a police investigators on Wednesday accused the organizer of last weekend's Love Parade techno festival of major security breaches which may have led to the crush. But it left many unanswered questions regarding the responsibility of the Duisburg municipality, which was responsible for overseeing the event.

The crush occurred in a jammed tunnel that was the sole entrance to the festival grounds. More than 500 people were injured.

A Few More Things: Justin Timberlake, Kristy Lee Cook & The French Nuns

2010-07-30T00:23:00Z

Justin Timberlake is bringing his fashion line to Target, “American Idol” contestant Kristy Lee Cook shows off her hunting skills, and singing French nuns are faced with death threats.

Bringing Sexy Back To Target

In December fans will have the chance to dress like Justin Timberlake when his William Rast collection for Target hits shelves at the retail giant.

The limited edition collection will be available for a month and feature denim, outerwear and sportswear for men and women.

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Target has previously offered designer collaborations by prestigious designers including Zac Posen, Jean Paul Gaultier, Rodarte and Proenxa Schouler.

Timberlake launched William Rast with his childhood friend Trace Ayala in 2005. The singer says the line’s fall runway collection was inspired by road trips between the Mississippi River and the West Coast.

Kristy Lee Cook Goes Country

Kristy Lee Cook, the seventh place finalist on the seventh season of “American Idol,” is hosting a new reality show that will feature the country singer hunting deer and turkey as well as searching for a new record label.

“Goin’ Country” begins Sunday on the sports-oriented cable TV channel Versus.

“I know a lot of people who watch hunting shows and they get kind of bored with them, you know, with the same old thing, in the stand doing this and that,” Cook said. “So we tried to make it a little more real life with my music life in Nashville, trying to make it as a singer, and my life at home with the horses and barrel racing and my foundation for rescuing horses, and then hunting as well.”

The show will feature Cook hunting turkey in Nashville with country singer Aaron Tippin, hunting deer in Texas with fellow “Idol” finalist Blake Lewis and hunting exotic deer in Missouri with singer Jake Owen and his twin brother Jarrod.

After releasing her debut Why Wait in 2008 on Arista, Cook parted ways with the label and is currently searching for a new record deal.

French Nuns Face Death Threats

After winning a record deal from Universal Music, a group of nuns from Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation near Avignon, France, has learned that fame can quickly attract scary Internet trolls.

The nuns uploaded a clip of their Gregorian chants online to find that the comment section soon included a number of death threats.

“There were threats written in English saying that these nuns had to be killed,” French newspaper La Provence reported, according to Reuters.

The police were informed and asked to keep tabs on the convent.

Reuters notes that the threatening comments on the website have been removed.

The nuns earned the record deal by beating out 70 other religious orders from North America and Africa. Universal Music is also home to Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stons and Elton John.

Click here for the Reuters article.