500,000 To See Stones in T.O.
The Rolling Stones-headlined concert in Toronto on July 30th is expected to be one of the largest ticketed music events ever, according to organizers. The event is an effort to combat the economic damage done to the city by the SARS crisis earlier this year. Half a million tickets will be sold for the day-long event, which also features AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, Rush, Sam Roberts, the Flaming Lips, and others. So far, about 400,000 tickets have been sold - which is about the number of people who attended the original Woodstock concert in 1969.
Justin Timberlake and other acts will perform on turntable-style stage that will rotate to allow one act to set up while another performs. Construction of the elaborate set-up begins on Monday.
RadioLips?
In an interview with NME, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne says that he's looking forward to a collaboration with Radiohead. The two bands played back-to-back at the recent Glastonbury Festival in England, and the Lips are rumoured to be contenders for the opening spot on Radiohead's upcoming North American tour. Coyne says he hopes the two bands will record together in September.
REM : London Brixton Academy
Michael Stipe bounces around the stage like Iggy Pop's hyperactive nephew, pinches guitarist Peter Buck's arse, tells the crowd that he now checks into hotel rooms as HRH and admits to nicking Morrissey's stage moves after seeing The Smiths at the same venue in 1985. Ah, it's good to have him back.
Stipe continues to make this remarkably durable band shine when many critics - and fans - felt the chemistry which made them so special dissolved on the departure of drummer and founding member Bill Berry in 1997.
Of course, it helps that REM are keeping things fresh by altering their set every night, thus showcasing what an unassailable collection of songs they have - 'Pilgrimage', 'Get Up', 'Little America' and a clutch of tunes from 1985's 'Fables Of The Reconstruction' are so ageless and vital tonight that they stand shoulder to shoulder with anthems written by the classic bands they’ve inspired.
And, in new songs 'Animal' and 'Bad Day', REM prove they've got plenty of those kind of songs left in the locker, both recalling the band's rockin' mid-80s blossoming from cult outsiders to stadium titans with their piledriving guitars and classic harmonies.
However when the everyman anthems 'Man On The Moon' and storming closer 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' erupt into dazzling widescreen epics their position as emperors the tender anthem is confirmed. Chris, Thom and a host of pretenders: Kneel before them
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