Niki N. Phaser » gig

Alan Wilder Is Still ‘Somebody’ For Depeche Mode

Niki N. Phaser — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:59:41 +0000

Depeche Mode history was made recently, on February 17, when the band performed a special show at the Royal Albert Hall, for Teenage Cancer Trust. Before performing Somebody, Martin Gore invited a special guest on stage, none other than Alan Wilder, who accompanied Gore on piano. Wilder left Depeche Mode in 1995, after the strenuous tour for Songs of Faith and Devotion, which nearly broke the whole band, claiming that relationships within the band “have become seriously strained, increasingly frustrating and, ultimately, in certain situations, intolerable”. After his departure, he devoted himself full-time to side-project Recoil, which is still touring and releasing albums. As expected, the brief reunion caused a lot of joy among Depeche Mode fans, but this was a one-off. No rumors of a full-on Wilder return should come of this.

SOMEBODY is here Recoil – Allelujah

The Killers Put Disbanding Rumours To Rest

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:15:59 +0000

In an official statement posted on their website, The Killers have declared that rumours about their ‘demise’ are unfounded, stating that ”They are all looking forward to some time off at the end of this tour as they have been on the road for a long time, but there are no plans for an indefinite hiatus”.

However, there are some bad news especially for the Australian fans. The gigs at Sydney Enmore, Good Vibrations Festival Sydney and Good Vibrations Festival Perth have been cancelled. The reason is the same that forced them out of their mini Asian tour last month: the serious illness of a close family member. Other details have not been disclosed on the matter. The Las Vegas outfit still hope to make it to the Good Vibrations Festival’s Gold Coast and the Melbourne gigs next weekend. After the previous cancellation, rumours about an indefinite hiatus started to emerged on several websites. Read the full statement here:

READ THEIR MIND

Amy Macdonald Is Telling Us It’s Not Over

Niki N. Phaser — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:22:32 +0000

Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald has given us a first taste of her future album, still untitled, coming out on the 8th of March. First single, Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over, will be released on 1st March, but it has already made its presence known on Europe’s radios, to a very positive reaction. Though a bit more bigger-sounding (as in energetic) than her debut material, the new single retains the emotional verve that made her one of the most successful debutants of recent music history. Fans will not be disappointed by the new offering, only more eager to hear the new album.

There is more good news for those who really can’t handle the waiting. Macdonald will performe some showcase gigs, revealing the new material in the best way she knows: live. The first will be in Glasgow on January 28th (Barrowland Ballroom), after which she is heading to the UK for a similar show in London. If in doubt, though actually having the chance to attend one of these events, listen to the new single:

Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over

Blink 182 Visit The Old Continent Next Summer

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:28:24 +0000

Mark Hoppus has announced that Blink 182 will be touring Europe for a few weeks, during the summer of 2010. No exact dates or locations have been published yet, but in the following months, everything will be revealed. To be sure that you are not missing anything, check the band’s official site for future information. Since the band reformed, there has been talk of a new album, but there is still nothing certain. Drummer Travis Barker has been working on his solo record, which will feature, among others, RZA and Chester of Linkin Park and Dead By Sunrise. It will be out next year, under the title Mr. Barker’s. Mark Hoppus has been in the studio also, producing a lot of new bands, while Tom DeLonge’s side project, Angels and Airwaves is about to release a new album, Love, and also an experimental movie of the same name. The first single, Hallucinations, has been released as a free download, as will the entire record. However, some sources state that the band will be working on a new Blink 182 album before touring Europe in 2010. Their last one was released in 2003.

The Cranberries Will Linger Once More

Niki N. Phaser — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:22:18 +0000

Irish 90′s wunderkinds, The Cranberries might just take their recent reunion to the next level, meaning they are working on new material. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, singer Dolores O’Riordan stated that both she and Noel Hogan have been writing new music and the possibility of a new album seems appealing to the recently reunited gang.

Currently, the band are on an approximately one month tour of North America, enchanting fans, old and new, with The Cranberries hit-list of honour, as well songs from O’Riordan’s solo albums. Due to a personal matter of the singer’s, a recent gig in Detroit had to be cancelled, but now the tour is back on track. 2010 will bring two other legs on their reunion tour, one in South America for the winter and then, Paris in the springtime… plus other major European cities.

Hopefully, the audience’s response will encourage the Zombie authors to grace us with new material. Their last album was 2001′s Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. See a performance of their 1996 classic, When You’re Gone, played in Philadelphia, on November 17:

Reunited

H.I.M. Respect Helldone Tradition

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:33:39 +0000

Finnish love-metal gurus, HIM, announced through their official heartagram site, that they intend to respect the New Year’s Eve tradition of playing at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki for the Helldone Festival. They’ve been doing it since the birth of the festival in 2005, but also before, the Finnish capital club being strongly connected to the band’s roots. Considering that HIM are done with recording their new album, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, it is very likely that they would premiere some new material at the 28th-31st December festival. They will also be joined by friends The 69 Eyes and Anathema, which will offer concert-goers acoustic and unplugged sets. Helldone will also be a chance for a number of new Finnish acts to shine, bands like: Vanity Beach, Ghost Brigade, Major Label and others. More info, about line-up and tickets here:

INFO

No Pill To Fix Sound Problems For Placebo

Niki N. Phaser — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:15:28 +0000

Placebo have encountered the climax of technical problems during a live concert, as they declared in an official statement on their site: “In our 15 year career we have never experienced such a technical difficulty on stage”. It all occurred during their set at the MTV Murcia Night show, in Cartagena, Spain. The problems started even from opener Kitty Litter and persisted all troughout the following songs, forcing the band to take the dramatic decision of cutting the gig short, six tracks in. They left the stage while the snags were being worked on, but never come back, as it was impossible to put on an at least a standard Placebo show. Useless to say that the decision was met with little understanding by the crowd. It was a free concert, so there wasn’t any question of refunds. Just a big disappointment for everyone. Despite Placebo promising that “We will try our hardest to make this up to you!”, we all know that once a gig goes awry, there is little to do about it.

WATCH A VIDEO OF THE DISPLEASED CROWD

‘Peace’ will not come to Depeche Mode

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:05:50 +0000

Even though they have recently released their second single from Sounds of the Universe, entitled Peace, things on the Depeche Mode front are not that peaceful. Their overanticipated Tour of the Universe, announced in the fall of 2008, has been so far… well, jinxed. First, they had to take a break, one gig in, because singer Dave Gahan fell ill with was prooved to be a tumor in his bladder. Because of this, they had to cancel a show in Greece, twenty minutes before coming on stage, which resulted in a mini riot. Then followed another seven shows in Eastern and Southern Europe and Turkey, that were finally cancelled, the band being able to save one in Croatia and several in Germany and England. Despite having two breaks in their tour agenda, one in July and one in September, the eight shows were not rescheduled, apparently because they were open air gigs. As if this wasn’t enough, recently there’s been some controversy related to tickets for their German dates. Scalpers seem to have hit gold, as tickets to their sold-out arena shows in Germany resurfaced, of course, overpriced. The phenomenon took such proportions that legendary concert promoter, Marek Lieberberg is urging fans to no longer buy secondary market tickets.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR DEPECHE MODE’S Peace

Live Review : Placebo at Romexpo, Bucharest (June 21, 2009)

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:43:56 +0000

Placebo pleasing the crowd

For an EU capital, Bucharest is not the most tourist-oriented of cities. Finding Romexpo was quite an adventure and then finding the venue within Romexpo was quite a mini-adventure. The biggest procentege of the crowd waiting at the gates was pretty much what you would call standard Placebo fans: girls ranging from 14 to 18, wearing black and goth make-up, but looking very happy and excited. Of course, by the time access was allowed, a more “square”-looking audience started to show up. There was a bit of a delay, a bit of waiting in the sun, but there always is. While Expatriate’s crew were making final preparations, a DJ entertained the in-coming people with some well-suited indie classics.

Expatriate, the opening band from Australia, did a good job, no doubt about it, but it was obviously not their crowd. There was screaming and applause, but not like what was about to follow. Some Placebo sightings during Expatriate’s set didn’t do them much good either. They thanked Placebo for having them as guests and the audience for their response. Then followed the removal of their gear and final soundchecks and after a few more minutes, that magic moment when the background music stops and the band’s intro music starts. The screen from the back of the stage is turned on and big red “PLACEBO” writings appear, for fans’ delight…

Steve Forrest enjoying Expatriate's show

Placebo took the stage as the sun was setting and, no hello’s, no how are you’s, kicked off with perfect opener Kitty Litter. Setlist-wise, it was a standard non-festival Placebo date, circa summer of 2009. Still, for such a madding crowd, it could have just as well been an acoustic cover session of Barbra Streisand’s hits, the fans were that pleased to see their idols. Ashtray Heart was next and only after that, Molko greeted the public and announced that they will be playing a few songs from their new album. Battle for the Sun, despite its many lyrics, was well-known by the audience. All tracks were, new or old. At the end of the title track, before Molko moaned acapella “I will battle for the sun”, he took a break and demanded more and more noise from the audience. Some decibels records in human shouting must have been broken that night, because the sound was deafening, almost in a scary way. Molko’s big smile to his guitar-master, when changing instruments for the next song, prooved that the facts immediately sank in: Placebo is owning this crowd. Bands always talk about the exchange of energy in concerts. Sunday night, in Bucharest, this phenomenon was as visible as it can be. All rock’n'roll moves and postures were checked by the frontman, with his Fenders finding themselves between his legs on several occasions. Drummer Steve Forrest “broke” concert rules and catapulted his sticks into the sea of raised hands, after finishing certain songs, not just at the end of the show.

Brian Molko is glad to be smoking on stage

There were also some funny moments. Stefan Olsdal had some difficulties with the beginning of Speak in Tongues, fixed after changing “weapons”. Molko ironically commented: “Sometimes, guitars play all the wrong notes”. When presenting the band, he named Olsdal “the queen of Sweden” and Olsdal responded by calling Molko his “drama queen”. Towards the end of Black Eyed, the frontman signaled the need of cancer-stick to one of his tech-guys. Of course, a rain of cigarette packs, coming from the public, landed on stage (accompanied at one point by a bra, that is now probably a part of Placebo’s Tour Treasure… Chest). He lighted before Happy You’re Gone saying: “It’s fantastic to be in a country where you can smoke on stage. Where we come from, in the UK, they’re slowly taking away every piece of freedom we have left. So, it’s great to be amongst you filling our lungs together”. This might NOT make a good anti-smoking add. After Song to Say Goodbye, Placebo said good night, but it was obvious that this is not the end. The first encore was Infra-Red and Sleeping with Ghost‘s hit, The Bitter End. They closed the night with the classic Taste in Men, sounding more massive than ever. The band left the stage in an impressive roar of admiration from the mesmerized crowd. Steve Forrest left with his own little piece of “treasure”: a pair of pants, thrown on stage by some really desperate-to-be-remembered fan.

Brian Molko meeting some of his fans

: Steve Forrest giving autographs

The night wasn’t over quite yet. A group of fans situated in the left side of the stage spotted Placebo’s backstage lodgings and cheered them out of there for an impromptu autograph session. This clearly wasn’t any promo duty for them, just a way of saying “thank you” in a more upfront personal way. Brian Molko was smiling all throughout the signing, but Steve Forrest seemed to be really having the time of his life. He was hugged and kissed and patted on the back and made pictures with anyone asking. He even graduated magna cum laude from the rock’n'roll stardom baptism of giving an autograph on a lady’s chest. Live ”sidekicks” Fiona Brice, Nick Gavrilovich and veteran Billy Lloyd joined the fun, as well as the members of Expatriate. Placebo’s longtime manager, Alex Weston, was also there overseeing the interactions and making sure everybody got their autograph. It was the perfect ending of a perfect night. After such a mind-blowing response, there is no doubt that Placebo will return to Romania. If not in the following two years, they will surely make a stop when promoting their now-unborn future album.

Muse join The Resistance on the 14th September

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:26:13 +0000

Muse finally announced a release date for The Resistance, their new album. It is the 14th of September this very year. Even before there were any solid news about their new musical efforts, fans were buzzing at the possibility of the boys working on new material. Then, details slowly emerged and it seems they are planning to break the moulds once again, threatening us with “the hardest song ever” or big orchestral manoeuvres, never before seen. Considering their past, I think we should take them seriously and brace ourselves for some postmodern progressive rock.

Even drummer Dominic Howard is complaining about the size of these new things. Talking about learning to play the new setlist live he ponders “That should take a while“. No doubt about it, the wait will be worthwhile. The release date being in the beginning of the autumn and grand tours to follow, we are entitled to be expecting a single this summer. Hopefully, they woun’t break the moulds so much, as to not release a single. In fact, a free download is also in the fashion nowadays. Let’s hope they know that.