Our pals at Absolute Punk have a listing of the dates for blink-182’s summer tour, with a handy code telling you which supporting acts–of the array encompassing Fall Out Boy, Weezer, the All-American Rejects, Asher Roth, Chester French, Taking Back Sunday, and Panic At The Disco–will be on which dates. [AbsolutePunk] More »
Confirmed Dead or Alive abuser / alleged rabbit abuser Flo Rida will make his Today debut during this summer’s installment of the morning show’s Summer Concert Series (now entering its 14th year!). “I’m getting goosebumps just even thinking about it,” he said of the appearance. “I always do something real big every time I get on TV, but since this is my first time on Today I definitely have to set the mark very high.” That actually makes him sound kind of humble and sweet. Darn you, Flo Rida, making me like you! In other news, the Dave Matthews Band will make its first appearance with Ann Curry and Co. This is made even more surprising by the fact that All-American Rejects will be making their third appearance. Full lineup after the jump!
After Billboard launched its Adult Album Alternative singles chart last year, I compared and contrasted it with the two existing rock charts, Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock, and noted how few bands, let alone songs, would be able to make a dent on all three charts. At the time, I wrote: “I’ll be very curious to see what song, if any, will be the first to appear on all three rock charts; my best guess is that it’ll depend on whether U2 or the White Stripes releases a new album sooner.” Not to toot my own horn, but I was right on the mark; the lead single from U2’s No Line On The Horizon became the first song to achieve that feat immediately upon its release. “Get On Your Boots” has been locked at the top spot on Triple-A for the last four weeks; on Modern Rock it entered at No. 8 and currently sits at No. 5; and while it’s made the Mainstream Rock chart, it has so far only climbed to No. 26.
The latest entrant into the “covering Britney… More »
Over the holidays, Billboard‘s song charts were, at least on the surface, pretty sleepy. On the Hot 100, most of the songs that were hot late last fall—Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” and “If I Were a Boy,” T.I. and Rihanna’s “Live Your Life,” Kanye’s “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless,” Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” the unkillable Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”—continued bumping around the Top 10 like lazy molecules.
But below the surface, a ton of music was being consumed. In particular, one song benefited massively from the annual iPod-filling digital megasale that hits iTunes every Christmas—and that song, Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance,” reaches No. 1 the very week Apple’s music store removes digital-rights management restrictions on all of its songs, making them freely copyable.
Does this mean we’re in for even more Lady GaGa than we’re enduring now, as kids trade their iTunes purchases like baseball cards? Unlikely: those who “share” music probably figured out their DRM workarounds years ago.
But the official start of the post-DRM era—and, more important, the changes to song pricing—could have some interesting effects on digital song sales, and the charts that track them.
We’ve reported earlier on Denny’s attempt to reach out to the kids by inviting bands to design menu items, throwing Warped Tour afterparties, and playing alt-rock over the loudspeakers during the late-night hours. But since there’s no outpost of the 24-hour chain diner nearby, we couldn’t experience the marketing magic for ourselves–until last night, when the Idolator braintrust got invited to an event spotlighting the items on what Denny’s is calling its Rock Star Menu. Unfortunately the Metropolitan Pavilion didn’t have red plastic booths installed for the festivities (Denny’s-branded placemats would have to suffice), it was early evening and not the wee hours of the morning, and I was drinking rum-spiked Diet Dr Pepper instead of the virginal version that I’d normally be served. But otherwise former Denny’s beat reporter Anthony Miccio and I felt like we’d been transported back to the suburbs, complete with “Toxic” playing at top volume over the PA and me nearly choking on an onion ring. After the jump, our overall impressions of the menu’s musician-designed foodstuffs.
Soon, your visit to Denny’s will allow you to enjoy heart-shaped pancakes from the Eagles of Death Metal and milkshakes conceived by the Plain White T’s thanks to the eatery’s ever-evolving All Nighter campaign, which hopes to bring a “rock edge” to the restaurant during the wee hours. Restaurants will play nothing but alt-rock and the waitstaff will trade its regular uniforms for T-shirts and jeans! Suck on that, Waffle House!
