Quick Hits: Rush / Billy Corgan, Nicki Minaj / HOT 97, MTV Movie Awards, Drake, Five Finger Death Punch, Justin Bieber, My Morning Jacket, Seether, AWOLNATION / Imagine Dragons, Fitz And The Tantrums, The Walkmen, Asia
June 4, 2012
Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins will interview members of one of his favorite bands, Rush, as the Canadian Rock veterans prepare to release their 20th studio album Clockwork Angels. Corgan will chat with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson for an upcoming FMQB Productions special, Inside Rush: Clockwork Angels, airing on radio stations across North America starting June 11. Clockwork Angels arrives in stores on June 12.
Nicki Minaj
After successful performances at radio festivals in Philadelphia and Boston this weekend, Nicki Minaj canceled her Sunday's HOT 97 Summer Jam after YoungMoney President Lil' Wayne pulled the plug. According to reports, WQHT (HOT 97)/New York DJ Peter Rosenberg dissed Minaj's single "Starships" onstage to the crowd earlier in the day. Minaj's mentor and label boss Wayne later tweeted "Young Money ain't doing summer jam" and Minaj's set was cut. She tweeted, "I go above and beyond for my fans. But won't ever go against wayne's word. What he says, goes." HOT 97 still delivered quite a show, as surprise guests Nas and Lauryn Hill took the stage together in one the Summer Jam's most spectacular moments. L-Boogie performed the Fugees classic, "Ready Or Not" and joined Nas on "If I Ruled The World." It wouldn't be a Hot 97 Summer Jam without controversy as well as those memorable moments.
MTV held its annual Movie Awards on Sunday night, and while the focus was on the silver screen, several musical acts performed. The most buzzworthy moment came from Johnny Depp, who performed alongside The Black Keys, playing guitar on "Lonely Boy" and "Gold On The Ceiling." fun. opened the show playing their hit "We Are Young" with Janelle Monae, while Wiz Khalia performed "Work Hard, Play Hand." Also, LMFAO won a Movie Award for the use of "Party Rock Anthem" in 21 Jump Street.
Drake has announced details on his third-annual OVO Fest on his home turf of Toronto. The August 5 event will be headlined by Drake and include performances from 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd. OVO Fest will also double as the closing night of Drake's "Club Paradise" summer trek.
Five Finger Death Punch
Five Finger Death Punch has announced a suicide prevention initiative promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In cooperation with the Lifeline, the band has filmed a public service announcement, which will be placed on all broadcast, cable and web outlets interested in supporting the initiative. The PSA can be seen on YouTube here. In addition, Five Finger Death Punch has independently filmed a video that accompanies the single "Coming Down," which will premiere on VEVO on June 12 at 9 a.m. PST. As previously reported, 5FDP will headline the Trespass America Festival - also featuring Killswitch Engage, Trivium, Pop Evil, Emmure, God Forbid and Battlecross - from July 13 in Broomfield, CO to August 28 in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber fans knew they had to be quick in order to snatch up tickets for his upcoming Believe tour, which is probably why the entire trek is already sold out. On Saturday (June 2), Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, tweeted: "Just found out @justinbieber sold out the entire #BelieveTour North America in 1 Hour and both MSG shows clean in 30 seconds! Blown away. Now we are gonna make sure the #BelieveTour is as epic as possible. Thank u for supporting the kid. Amazing." The jaunt will kick off September 29 in Arizona before traveling all over North America and wrapping on January 26, 2013, in Miami.
My Morning Jacket has announced a handful of west coast tour dates for September, running from Sept. 7 in Seattle to Sept. 15 in Berkeley, CA. Furthermore, beginning with their forthcoming European tour dates that start on June 16 in Spain, My Morning Jacket will implement the "Spontaneous Curation Series," letting fan club members and concert-goers assist them in curating each night's set list through Twitter. The series will also comprise of the band mining all six of their studio albums and rarities, adding to the spontaneity and uniqueness each night. Follow @mymorningjacket for details and announcements on how to participate in the Spontaneous Curation Series.
Awareness and prevention of teen suicide will be the focus of the first Rise Above Fest, which will be headlined and curated by Seether and take place on September 3 in Gilford, NH. Other bands tapped for the festival include Buckcherry, Puddle of Mudd, Black Stone Cherry and Otherwise. A portion of the proceeds will go to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) New Hampshire. "Our drummer (Josh Humphrey), his wife works in the local church and in the span of a month or six weeks, three kids between the ages of 12 and 15 killed themselves," frontman ShaunMorgan told Billboard.com. "That's insane. That kind of thing is happening, and something needs to be done. Something needs to be said and someone needs to tell kids there's a better way to do things. And if we can just do a small part of that in our own way at one little festival in the middle of the forest, then I'll be happy if we save some lives." Tickets for the Rise Above Fest go on sale June 8 with VIP packages also available. Details will be available at www.seether.com.
AWOLNATION will headline a fall U.S. tour with Imagine Dragons and emerging indie hip-hop artist Zeale. The group will kick off the tour on September 8 in Philadelphia and it will culminate with an appearance at New Orleans' Voodoo Music Experience festival from October 26-28. Additional dates are still to be announced. Meanwhile, AWOLNATION’s third single, "Kill Your Heroes," officially goes for adds at Modern Rock Radio this week.
Fitz and The Tantrums are currently at work on the follow-up to 2010's Pickin' Up the Pieces. Produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, Phoenix), the yet-to-be-titled sophomore album is scheduled for release on October 9 via Dangerbird Records. Meanwhile, the group kicks off an extensive North American tour this week in Birmingham, AL. In addition to its headline dates, the tour includes performances at numerous festivals such as Bonnaroo and Outside Lands.
The Walkmen will be heading out on a North American tour in support of their new album, Heaven, from September 12 in Los Angeles to October 19 in Boston. Pre-sale tickets will be available at www.thewalkmen.com starting on Wednesday, June 6. The Walkmen also will perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, June 5.
Asia will release XXX on Frontiers Records on July 3. All four original members of the band are back for the album, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the group.