Black Sabbath Announce Intimate Birmingham Gig
You´ve been waiting for this announcement too long, but Black Sabbath have finally announced a warm-up show before their Download Festival performance.
The metal legends are set to play Birmingham´s O2 Academy on May 19th. This intimate gig will see the band preview some of the new work they have been working on in the last few months. Despite Toni lommi currently undergoing treatment for lymphoma, he will join Ozzy Osbourne and the rest of his bandmates at this gig and at Download. He won´t however be taking part in all their summer tour dates. As for their drummer Bill Ward, no word has been mentioned on who will be replacing him. Ward decided not to take part in the new album sessions, due to the fact that he was unhappy with the contract.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, we can only anticipate a hectic scramble over them!
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Jack White Debuts Genius Solo Album
The White Stripes belongs to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to.
After the split up of Meg and Jack White, we had The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather to keep Jack White´s music alive. But, the release of his solo album has given fans the long anticipated fix of this prestigious multi-instrumentalist´s work. His first full-length solo album Blunderbuss was released yesterday, but he revealed the content of his solo work when he streamed Blunderbuss online.
To celebrate the launch of his new release, Jack White will be playing a gig at New York Webster´s Hall tomorrow, April 27th. The concert will be retransmitted on Youtube as part of the American Express Unstaged series, directed by Gary Oldman. Remember, you can get the chance to see the singer on stage in London on 21 and 22 June!
Ten Recommendations for Record Store Day 2012 – April 21st
Record Store Day has been celebrated the third Saturday of April since 2007. This year, we’ve prepared a list of ten recommendations for you to consider when visiting your local store this Saturday, April 21st.
Obviously at 5gig.co.uk, we’re dedicated to providing you the most complete and up-to-date information on live shows, tours and festivals, so we also are quite aware of any new albums and special releases, and when they come out. We’ve tried to compile the best albums of various genres that have been released over the past few months that you probably haven’t heard on the radio. Basically, we’re providing you with a list of what we consider to be “hidden gems,” albums that we eagerly listen to in the office to get us through the day.
Lady Gaga Gives Us Another 50″ to Purchase Tickets For a Second London Date
Lady Gaga has certainly proved once again to be on of the biggest artists to hit the music scene in recent years. This 26 year old global superstar managed to sell out her London gig in 5 seconds, and sell out both UK dates in just a few minutes.
It comes as a great opportunity for her many fans who remained without tickets that Lady Gaga has announced a second Born This Way show at London´s Twickenham Stadium on September 9th.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, 20th April, at 9am. But we can only imagine they will sell out in no time, so be the first to purchase tickets here.
Her UK tour dates are as follows:
Top 5 Cover Versions of Lana del Rey
Lana del Rey is a phenomenon many of us have finally got caught up in; be it because of her music or the rumours surrounding her and Axl Rose.
This singer from New York has released two studio albums; Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant (2010) and Born to Die (2012). Although her first work went unnoticed, Born to Die rose Lana to worldwide recognition with songs such as Videogames, Blue Jeans and Born to Die. For better or for worse, there is no denying that Lana del Rey is on everybody´s lips. The cover versions of her songs are proof of her abrupt influence on today´s music industry. We decided to get together an interesting complitation of the most interesting covers done so far.
BOY GEORGE
The emblematic leader of Culture Club does his best Lana Del Rey impersonation, even up to copying her signature, her flower-in-the-hair look. Last week he released a cover of Video Games.
Video Games (teaser) by The Boy George
BLOOD ORANGE
The famous producer Dev Hynes, better known as Blood Orange or Lightspeed Champion, has written songs for the likes of Florence + the Machine, Diana Vickers and The Chemical Brothers. In this case, he’s taken it upon himself to remix Lana Del Rey’s Blue Jeans, which you can listen to at Nowness.
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB
At 5gig, we’re especially fond of BBC Radio One’s Live Lounge for the diverse artists they bring in for live performances on their show. Bombay Bicycle’s soulful version of Video Games set the bar high for the rest of bands.
DAMON ALBARN
The versatile Damon Albarn also fell victim to the charm and allure of Lana Del Rey earlier this year, paving the way to this remix of Born to Di. It’s a dub-style remix including samples of Clams Casino and Woodkid.
THE TING TINGS
Jules De Martino y Katie White perform an acoustic take of Born to Die. It, interestingly enough, also includes bits and pieces of Ian Brown and Skrillex.
Which remix or cover do you like best? Or, do you feel like making your own? If these five didn’t quench your thirst for Lana Del Rey material, just scour YouTube like we have — you’ll find hundreds of versions!
Lady Gaga Announces ‘Born This Way Ball’ UK Tour Dates
Lady Gaga has announced two UK dates as part of her Born This Way Ball.
The gigs, set to take place at London´s Twickenham Stadium on September 8th and Manchester Arena on September 11th, will be Lady Gaga´s biggest shows to date. These shows form part of the European leg of the tour, which kicks off in Bulgaria in August and will be followed by another 20 dates.
The Darkness and Lady Starlight will be supporting Lady Gaga on these shows.
Tickets are set to go on sale this Friday, April 10th. Prices will range from £50 to £80.
Born This Way is her second studio album, which was released on May 23, 2011. We can only imagine that all of Lady Gaga´s little monsters were impatient to see her live.
Check back here on Friday morning to not miss out on buying tickets.
5 Videoclips Worth Watching
Sometimes a song just gets even better after watching the videoclip. In some cases, such elaborate videos are better known than the song itself.
Here´s a few of the best videoclips we´ve seen recently.
1. Niki and The Dove are an electro pop trio that originate from Stockholm. They ranked at 5th position on BBC´s Sound of 2012 Poll. Their videoclip for The Fox perhaps gave this less known band the virality they needed. The song could be downloaded for free. Their single DJ, Ease My Mind was released in February, from their upcoming debut album set to be released in May, Instinct. The videoclip for The Fox is entirely computer animated, and yet is a strong connection to nature.
This intriguing videoclip features an animated female with a fox head who carries out a journey through the most psychedelic landscape, detailed with indigenous imagery.
2. OK Go, alternative rock band from Chicago, are certainly better known for their curious and quirky music videos. Most of their MTV and Grammy nominations and awards reward their creative videos. Their latest videoclip for Skyscrapers surprises us once again. This videoclip doesn´t star any of the band members, but focuses on a chameleonic tango, coupled by Moti Buchboot and Trish Sie (who also directed the video). Perhaps it isn´t the most surprising videos they have to offer, but it´s an artistic video worth watching. Less distractful than their other videos, you might even give the song a proper listen.
3. The Shins´ Simple Song is accompanied by a videoclip where James Mercer records his last will on tape for his three children. Keeping in mind he was hated by the three of them, he doesn´t give the house to any of them and sets them off on a treasure hunt.
4. Lana del Rey finds her way in to every possible ranking, and here she is once again. Her official videoclip for Blue Jeans has gained her a mention in our list. She had promised her fans a proper music video, after putting together some homemade clips for Blue Jeans and Videogames. She came back with a classy video in black and white, which could emanate a commercial for any luxurious perfume. Bradley Soileau accompanies Lana once again in an aqueous romance.
5. French band, The Shoes, thought that the best shot at getting some publicity was starring Jake Gylenhall in a 9-minute-long videoclip murdering dancing “hipsters”, whilst donning a fencing outfit. They certainly acheived their goal, with over 1435124 views on Youtube.
History of Sonisphere.
Metal fans were quite gutted this morning when Sonisphere Festival officially announced that the UK leg of the festival, held at Knebworth, would be cancelled this year due to poor ticket sales.
The touring music festival hosts some of the biggest names in heavy metal, including Iron Maiden, Motley Crue and Metallica. The first run of festivals ran throughout the summer of 2009, and returned in 2010 and 2011. This year Sonisphere revealed a lineup which included Guns N´Roses, Queen with Adam Lambert, Kiss and Faith No More.
Sonisphere was first conceived in the late 90´s by John Jackson. Stuart Galbraith would become the festival´s producer. He had formed business partnership with AEG called Kilimanjaro Live in 2008. Galbraith´s plans of launching a festival in UK fit in perfectly with John Jackson´s idea.
A Wave of Nostalgia Reunites Bands
S Club 7 , probably far from causing a pandemic for tickets as The Stone Roses did when they announced comeback gigs after a 15 year absence, seem to join the avalanche of bands encouraged to get back together. With such exciting comebacks, from less serious to more serious bands, we thought we´d take a look at the bands who have decided to patch up their differences.
Back in October, The Stone Roses announced that they would be emabarking on a world tour as well as preparing a new album for 2012. The reunion features the classic lineup which disbanded in 1996. The band will also be headlining this year´s T in The Park and FIB.
Happy Mondays have probably got The Stone Roses to thank for their return, announcing their comeback with a UK tour. Frontman Shaun Ryder considered the choice of reuniting a no brainer, after their manager was flooded with calls to follow the steps of The Stone Roses. A choice which has brought them back to the limelight.
Blur´s comeback this year is planned to take things ”up a notch” from their 2009 reunion shows. The band will headline a special one-off show in London’s Hyde Park to celebrate the end of the Olympic Games this summer. They will be joined by The Specials and New Order, representing the best of British pop. Blur recently picked up the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at this year´s Brits where they also performed live.
New Order, which will be joining Blur at the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, reunited last year. The band, which evolved from Joy Division as a result of Ian Curtis´s suicide, has suffered a turbulent course with a few fall outs and a hiatus in between. The band is now formed by Bernard Summer, Stephen Morris, Gilllian Gilbert, Phil Cunningham and Tom Chapman following Hook´s definite departure in 2007.
Pulp made their comeback last year, despite Jarvis Cocker previously stating that he couldn´t really see the point of reforming. They played at last year´s Isle of Wight, T in The Park and Wireless festivals, as well as delighting fans with a series of gigs.
And we finally come to Steps and S Club 7. We can´t quite get our heads around the success of Step´s comeback, where they have sold out their arena tour and have achieved a number 1 album. Watch this space for S Club 7´s comeback tour.
Your Guide To The Festival Season
Spring is just around the corner, and with the warm weather approaching we can finally begin to look forward to the festival season. Here´s a look at what UK´s major festivals have in store over the Spring and Summer.
1. The Reading and Leeds Festival official line-up announcement and ticket on sale last week finally cleared up rumours with 3 confirmed headliners to perform over the weekend of the 24th to 26th August. We can look forward to seeing Foo Fighters, The Cure and Kasabian.
2. Deadmau5, Drake and Rihanna will be this year´s headliners at Wireless Festival. The London Festival takes place at Hyde Park during the 6th and 8th of July. Tickets for the days headlined by Drake and Rihanna are already on sale. We will have to wait until Thursday to purchase presale tickets for Deadmau5 and Friday for the official on sale. Maverick Sabre, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, Calvin Harris, Pitbull and Rizzle Kicks are only a few of the many artists to join the headliners at this year´s festival.
3. There was only room for one. The Olympic Games in London means we will have to wait until June 26th of 2013 for Glastonbury Festival.
4. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band and Pearl Jam will be this year´s Isle of Wight Festival headlineres, forming part of a very impressive line up which includes Noel Gallagher´s High Flying Birds, Elbow, Example, The Vaccines.
4. V Festival, which takes place in Chelmsford, will see both The Stone Roses and The Killers reunite and take the stage over the 18th and 19th August. Noel Gallagher´s High Flying Birds, Snow Patrol, Madness, Example and a many, many more will keep us gigging the whole weekend. General tickets for V Festival are now sold out.
5. June 8th will give commence to Download Festival in Derby, UK´s premiere rock festival. It was specially important this year to excel in the line up, as it prepares to celebrate it´s 10th anniversary. Reunited Black Sabbath, Metallica and The Prodigy are this year´s headliners followed by artists such as Soundgarden, Tenacious D, Biffy Clyro and You Me At Six. Check out the full line-up here!
6. The UK leg of Sonishphere will feature the comeback of Queen with Adam Lambert, joined by Kiss and Faith No More as top headliners followed by Evanescence, The Darkness, Incubus, Within Temptation, Marilyn Manson, Flogging Molly and plenty more. Sonisphere will take place at Knebworth House over the weekend of the 6th and 8th July.
Sonisphere Festival has been CANCELLED. Ticket holders will automatically receive a full refund direct from their ticket agents.
7. And we haven´t forgotten our selection of festivals for our electronically inclined giggers. The UK leg of Creamfields Festival is due to take place over the Bank Holiday weekend, 26-28th August in Daresbury. This year´s edition includes big names in the likes of Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice, Paco Osuna, Axwell, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Example, Steve Aoki, John Digweed, certainly boasting one of the most exciting line- ups of the festival season. For the full line-up click here.
8. Global Gathering has recently started announcing their line-up to get us geared up for the last weekend of July. The festival takes place in Warwick. Performances will come from Armin Van Buuren, Nero, Chase & Status, Skrillex and Tinie Tempah. More artists are to be confirmed shortly for the UK’s most diverse and progressive electronic music festival! Watch this space.
And there are many more festivals to choose from. Browse UK´s 2012 festivals here!
