Daily Loaf

They don’t say “party like a rockstar” for nothing because the business is all about excess. The environmental impact of touring shows and music festivals can be huge- using tons of fuel and resources and creating mass amounts of waste. But one musician decided to make a difference. In 2004, Adam Gardner, Guster guitarist/vocalist, and his environmentalist wife, Lauren Sullivan, launched the non-profit organization, Reverb, that was designed to ‘green’ music tours.

Reverb helps make touring shows more sustainable by providing turn-key greening programs and fostering educational grassroots outreach programs for the fans. For the touring band they provide an on-site coordinator to oversee the event, create a custom rider which includes green requests sent in advance to each venue, arrange biodiesel fueling for tour vehicles, arrange large-scale waste reduction and recycling initiatives, oversee eco-friendly practices with the hospitality and catering staff (i.e.: locally sourced organic food and the use of green cleaning products), calculate the carbon footprint of the tour and arrange appropriate carbon offsets. Reverb gets the fans involved by setting up an Eco-Village where they can get a green education through environmental displays and activities. These Eco-Villages host other environmental organizations, offer a carbon offset program for fans, and provide an online carpooling site where fans can meet up to arrange group travel to the shows.
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Unspeakable tragedies beget all-star charity spectacles, and the earthquake in Haiti is no exception. Soon-to-be-former American Idol curmudgeon Simon Cowell (right) will flex his celebrity muscle by drawing some of the British Isles’ biggest music stars to re-purpose and re-record a song by a most decidedly American band — “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.

NME reports the details, including R.E.M.’s approval:

R.E.M.’s manager Bertis Downs told The Sun that the band are waiving all royalties for the song, which is raising money for the Helping Haiti fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee.

“We are deeply touched the song has been chosen for this Haiti campaign,” Downs said. “It means a lot that the song the guys wrote all those years ago will be used for such an important appeal.”

Which British superstars did Cowell draft for “Everybody Hurts?” Check out the current list of participating celebs and the original video for “Everybody Hurts” after the jump.  Read the rest of this entry »

UK alt rockers Coldplay have postponed their Tampa show (and only stop in Florida) for unexplained medical reasons. Here’s the official release from Ford Amphitheatre:

COLDPLAY
POSTPONES SHOW
AT FORD AMPHITHEATRE – TAMPA

Coldplay have been forced to postpone their show in Tampa on Sunday, August 9th for artist related medical reasons. Details of the rescheduled date will be announced as soon as they are available.

For more information go to www.livenation.com

I’m embarrassed to say I was actually looking forward to this show. Dratted balladeering Brits!

A quick breakdown of this weekend’s most worthy concerts beginning with Thursday, ’cause that’s when the weekend really starts, right? For a more comprehensive schedule of concerts, check out our Upcoming Events page.

Thursday, August 06
Hot Sun Quartet (pictured) As part of its Side Door Jazz series, the Palladium welcomes Hot Sun Quartet (aka Quarteto Sol Caliente), an instrumental ensemble that performs Latin-flavored jazz with two flamencoguitarists, a percussionist on congas, and a stand-up bassist. Thurs., Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m., Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg, $15.

So. Cal Punk Invasion w/Fear/Agent Orange/D.I./Total Chaos Plastic and fakery incites some pretty strong feelings of disgust and So-Cal is a hotbed of punkified antipathy. This bill spotlights some of the region’s finest. Fear has been rocking LA since 1977 and is credited with helping shape the sound of hardcore punk via thrashtastic, tongue-in-cheek songs about anything from beer to women to beef baloney; you may remember them from 1981’s punk documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization. Agent Orange hails from Orange County and gets props for being the first group to combine punk and surf rock. Fullerton’s D.I. features ex-Social Distortion drummer Casey Royer on vocals while Total Chaos out of Ponoma Valley is fronted by vocalist Rob Chaos, who’s also co-owner of Cali-based punk label SOS Records. Thurs., Aug. 6, 7 p.m., State Theatre, St. Petersburg, $23. Read the rest of this entry »