Vibes blog

The Blink-182 concert at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre has been delayed from Oct. 1 to Oct. 6 due to rescheduling. Blink-182 canceled two shows because of the recent death of DJ AM.

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Chickenfoot w/ Davy Knowles & Back Door Slam
Uptown Amphitheatre
Aug. 27, 2009

The Deal: Supergroup Chickenfoot shreds Uptown Amphitheatre with the help of Davy Knowles and a special guest. (more…)

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R&B singer Calvin Richardson has seen the ups and downs of the music industry.

The North Carolina native sold 100,000 records 10 years ago but was still dropped from Uptown Records. His second album, on the other hand, went certified gold earlier this year. But through all that, he never forgot where he came from.

So when it came time to shoot a video for his new record, Charlotte was the first place that came to mind. Richardson sat down with CL at his “Woman’s Got To Have It” video premiere party at the Sunset Club on Monday night to talk about his new album Facts of Life: The Soul of Bobby Womack, that dropped on Tuesday.

Creative Loafing: So where are you from in North Carolina?
Calvin Richardson: Well originally I’m from Monroe, North Carolina but I’ve been in Charlotte for so long so that’s what I’m claiming; that’s home for me now.

So you’re not new to this, everybody knows you sold 100,000 10 years ago …
Yeah, I sold 100,000 10 years ago and my second album just went gold, officially, in February. I dropped another one that’s out there last year, and it’s still out there working. But I got another one getting ready to drop …

Lets talk about the journey real fast, from ‘99 to 2009, how did everything go? Explain that trip.
From ‘99 to 2009, it was just a lot of hard work. A lot of set ups and set backs to me, it was a learning lesson for me. I grew a lot in the business. Now, I just feel like I’m more seasoned as far as the business goes.

Do you appreciate it more with the struggles you went through?
Oh, I definitely appreciate it, everyday, like I said, I don’t take nothing for granted anymore. When you come into the music business, it’s easy for you to have a perception of the game like you’re going to be an overnight success and for some people that’s true. Like you can get on American Idol, but I didn’t have those outlets and stuff like that … but you cant build no house without no foundation that’s going to stand, so that’s what I am.

So you’re as much apart of N.C.’s soul roots — what can you say about the state and the kinds of artists we put out? You got Anthony Hamilton, you got Jodeci, you got people like that and you fit right in with them. How do you feel to be among that crew?
I mean it feels good. They are the keepers of real music … WE are the keepers of real music, not just they, but that’s what we do. You know I grew up with K-Ci and Jo-Jo. And you know Anthony — he’s doing his thing, and he’s keeping it real as well, so it’s all good man to be a part of that elite crew from North Carolina.

So what can people look forward to on the album coming out tomorrow?
Tomorrow I have 11 songs on there, that were some of Bobby Womack’s greatest hits that I felt like, you know, he had some many, so I picked 11 songs that I felt like would really make a statement and introduce people that don’t know anything about Bobby Womack to who he is, to his music, to his greatness and so that’s what you’re going to get. You’re gonna get “110^th Street,” “Stop On By,” “I’m Through Trying to Prove My Love to You,” “Hairy Hippy,” “Love Has Finally Come At Last,” “American Dream” … did I say “Daylight”? (laughing) I can go on and on, until I get to 11 of course, but that’s basically what you’re going to get.

Why Bobby Womack?
I say, why not? I mean Bobby Womack is the greatest storyteller of my time, our time, that I know of and my style is just so similar to Bobby Womack’s. My first album that I recorded 10 years ago, I did a cover of “I Wish You Didn’t Trust Me So Much” and who would know 10 years later I’d go back and do a whole cover of Bobby Womack’s songs man just to pay homage and tribute because that’s who’s shoulders I’ve been standing on for the last 10 years.

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Live Nation’s Wednesday Blow-Out Sales are continuing today until midnight with $10 all-in lawn tickets and $15 all-in reserved tickets for a number of shows. They’re also doing $10 all-in tickets for clubs, such as The Fillmore.

Here’s what’s available:

• Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre — $10 lawn and $15 reserved for Crue Fest 2 and Lil Wayne tickets

• Uptown Amphitheatre — $10 lawn tickets for Chickenfoot and $10/$15 for Heart

• The Fillmore — $10 tickets for Edwin McCain, Blues Traveler, Down, Pitbull, Mitchel Musso, Secondhand Serenade, KMFDM and David Allan Coe

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StubHub has released some information about the biggest cities for concerts, as well as the biggest concert ticket prices, etc.

According to their findings, the top five summer concert tours ranked by sales dollar volume were Jonas Brothers followed by Phish, Taylor Swift, Elton John and Kenny Chesney.

The top five summer concerts based on the number of tickets sold were Phish followed by Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Buffet and Dave Matthews Band.

Finally, the top 10 “most rockin’ cities” were:
1. New York
2. Boston
3. Chicago
4. Los Angeles
5. Philadelphia
6. Washington D.C.
7. Dallas
8. San Francisco Bay Area
9. Detroit
10. Denver

Atlanta came in 14th.

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Former Power 98 radio personality, Nate Quick, pictured here in 2008

Former WPEG Power 98 on-air personality, Nate Quick, passed away late Wednesday night from apparent liver complications.

Quick was currently the program director at KRNB and was the marketing director at K104-FM, both in Dallas, Texas.

An obviously emotional No Limit Larry and Tone took the airwaves at 5:50 a.m. with the announcement during the first break of their show, The Morning Maddhouse. No Limit calling him “the greatest radio personality ever,” and the reason he’s on radio today. No Limit flew down to Dallas on Monday to see Quick and said, he was at peace with that.

I personally grew up listening to Quick, along with personalities like Eddie Owens, B.J. Murphy and No Limit Larry on Power 98, all of whom I took things from indirectly, when I started doing radio in college. The way I said things, came in and out of breaks was me going trying to do what I’d heard other jocks do, which meant the guys I grew up with, like Nate Quick on the Breakfast Brothers. (more…)

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Twitterers and music fans alike, check out this press release for your chance to win a Season-Long Lawn Pass good for every show next summer in the Live Nation amphitheater in your city.

Los Angeles, CA – August 17, 2009 – This coming Wednesday, Live Nation will tap into the power of millions of twittering music fans across the country as the company launches its first-ever Live Nation Twitter Scavenger Hunt. Beginning at 9:00 a.m. PST on August 19th, the day-long contest gives music fans the opportunity to follow clues that will be “tweeted” from Live Nation Twitter accounts to find a special #LNScavHunt icon. The icons will be hidden in pre-selected websites and in physical locations within the 30 participating cities in North America*. Each found icon gets the fan one step closer to the grand prize: A Season-Long Lawn Pass good for every show next summer in the Live Nation amphitheater in their city.

In addition to being automatically entered into the grand prize Lawn Season Pass drawing in their city, every fan who completes the Scavenger Hunt will also receive a “Friends & Family” code to purchase a $10 lawn ticket to select concerts this summer. Fans must be followers of their local and the national Live Nation on Twitter account in order to participate.

To participate in Live Nation’s Twitter Scavenger Hunt simply follow the clues that will be “tweeted” from Live Nation Twitter accounts to find the Live Nation Twitter Scavenger Hunt icon. Clues will be “tweeted” and staggered throughout the day for each location. In order to win, fans must be Live Nation Twitter followers and tweet a picture or screenshot of the Live Nation Twitter Scavenger Hunt icon to @LiveNation and your local Live nation account. The first two clues will come from the national account @LiveNation, and the final clue will come from your local LiveNation account.

Please see www.LiveNation.com/ScavengerHunt for details.

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It’s here, finally. International Left-Handers Day. Roughly 93 percent of you may not give a shit, but then again it’s not your time to shine, now is it?

Maybe I’m really excited because I’m really, really left-handed. Watch me do anything with my right hand and you’d assume that my applesauce had been laced with muscle relaxers.

Honestly, I didn’t even know this celebration existed until this morning. But nonetheless I thought I’d pay tribute to some of our most prominent left-handed musicians, dead or alive.

Notable left-handers

Jimi Hendrix

Kurt Cobain

Paul McCartney

Dick Dale

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (The Mars Volta)

Iggy Pop

Tim Armstrong (Rancid)

Phil Collins

Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band)

Babyface

Iggy Pop

David Cook

There’s a ton more if you care to research, including tip-toein’ Tiny Tim (ukulele), Billy Ray Cyrus and, for what it’s worth, Eminem.

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OK, I love the acting chops displayed by rapper-turned-thespian Mos Def, but I am ecstatic that he recently made the choice to step away from the movie screen for a second to focus more on music.

A few months ago, the underground-hip-hop-flavored MC released his new CD, The Ectstatic, to rave reviews and now he’s taken his show on the road. Catch him at Amos’ Southend Wednesday, Aug. 12, performing cuts from his new album along with classic joints.

Of course, if you miss seeing him in the flesh, you can always watch him on the small screen in The Italian Job or something … but that’s just not as fun, now is it?! $30-$35. 8 p.m. Amos’ Southend, 1423 S. Tryon. 704377-6874. www.amossouthend.com.

To whet your appetite, here’s some footage of the man in action:

Oh and Jay Electronica is the opening act. For those who’ve never heard of him, here’s a little bit about the cat:

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By the looks of this video, the debut album from Them Crooked Vultures — Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones — will hit streets on Oct. 23.

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