Quick Hits: Radiohead, Eddie Vedder, The Who, Angels & Airwaves, Serj Tankian, The Specials, Rothbury Festival, "Weird Al" Yankovic
January 25, 2010
Last night in Los Angeles, Radiohead raised over half a million dollars for Haiti relief with a last-minute concert that was announced late last week. The band, which is in L.A. recording new material, played the Henry Fonda Theater on Sunday night, with all tickets sold via online auction. All proceeds went to charity and the Los Angeles Times reports that at the end of the show, Thom Yorke revealed that $572,754 had been raised. Yorke also played one new song solo, "Lotus Flower," during the encore.
Eddie Vedder (photo: Jim Rinaldi)
EddieVedder’s cover of "My City Of Ruins" by Bruce Springsteen, recorded at the recent Kennedy Center Honors, is now available as a charity digital single through Pearl Jam's Ten Club and iTunes. Proceeds from the sale of the track benefit Artists for Peace and Justice Haiti Relief.
Pete Townshend has told BillboardThe Who's planned setlist for their Super Bowl halftime performance. The Classic Rock legends will play a "compact medley" of some of their biggest hits. Townshend says, "We're kinda doing a mashup of stuff. A bit of 'Baba O'Riley,' a bit of 'Pinball Wizard,' a bit of the close of 'Tommy,' a bit of 'Who Are You,' and a bit of 'Won't Get Fooled Again.' It works -- it's quite a saga. A lot of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it -- we've always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot."
Blink-182's Tom DeLonge will release a new album from his other band, Angels & Airwaves, for free online on February 14. DeLonge tells Billboard that the free release of Love is risky, but he hopes to re-coup the money in other ways, including corporate sponsorship, touring, merchandise, a deluxe physical version of Love and more. DeLonge has been talking up an AVA feature film for years, and Love will serve as the soundtrack to the movie, which is also called Love. DeLonge also hopes to tie in the free album to his new website and sign up for paid memberships. AVA will tour this spring and DeLonge tells Billboard, "We've decided to basically give up the fact that we're going to sell albums and hope we're going to get it on the ticket side."
System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian has explained the recent rumors that the band is plotting a reunion. Bassist Shavo Odadjian recently asked on Twitter what fans would think of SOAD getting back together. However, Tankian tells Billboard, "We always have offers to play, from festivals and stuff, but we have not decided to do anything as of yet. We're in touch. We talk. We call it an indefinite hiatus, and that's how we still look at it. Nothing's really changed." Tankian is keeping busy with the impending release of a live CD/DVD from his solo tour, backed by a symphony. He is also recording a new solo album and writing for a stage musical adaptation of Prometheus Unbound.
Two Tone Ska legends The Specials will play Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 13 as their first appearance in the U.S. as part of their reunion. The original lineup of the group, sans keyboard player and founding member Jerry Dammers, reunited last year for a number of shows overseas. It was announced last week that the Specials would be a part of this year's Coachella festival. Billboard reports the band will also play Terminal 5 in New York City on April 21, with two more U.S. shows in April and a full tour expected for later this year.
The 2010 edition of the Rothbury Festival in Michigan has been cancelled by its organizers. According to a statement, "due to various artists’ recording and touring schedules, timing will not allow them to assemble the cutting edge roster that has been associated with Rothbury." A 2011 edition is expected to take place instead. Last year's Rothbury Festival included Bob Dylan, The Dead, Willie Nelson, The Black Crowes and many more.
"Weird Al" Yankovic has revealed he will be writing and directing an upcoming live action film made for the Cartoon Network. Yankovic wrote in a blog post today that he has signed a production deal with the network which could lead to more content from him down the road. The top secret film project wouldn't start shooting until late 2010 at the earliest, as Yankovic will be touring this year as well.