I'm very late to reporting this, but Bon Jovi was crowd as 2008's top touring act by Billboard magazine back in December with a gross of $210 million. One important thing that should be pointed out; if Springsteen had held back all of his tour receipts from October 2007 until after November 14th, 2007, he would have been number one with a gross around $230 million. Regardless, that's a hell of a lot of money made by two guys from the Garden state.
File this one under "I'll believe it when I see it": Ticketmaster chief thinks recession will knock down ticket prices. The concert industry is a bubble waiting to burst. People needs cars, gasoline, food, shelter...they don't need concerts whose tickets are almost as much as their convenience fee's.
The Bellingham View blog has their list of the best films of 2008 at this link. A wonderful read and even though there are not daily postings, this blog is all about quality over quantity.
Green Day may have made the album of the decade with American Idiot, can they do it again? Billboard reports that their latest album, 21st Century Breakdown arrives in late May.
Seattle Sound Magazine has a detailed review of the new Pearl Jam remaster of their debut, Ten at this link. This is proof that a re-issue can be as good as any new release.
Want some Poison with your "Sugar" Mr "Dream Police"? Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick will hit an amphitheater near you this summer.
If you hate film critic Ben Lyons, read this and you may hate him a little more.
Has an unheard Beatles song leaked? A new take of "Revolution 1 (Take 20)" appeared via YouTube earlier this week. Many have questioned it's legitimacy, but it appears to be the real deal. Check it out here.
Motley Crue's new DVD had a full press release this week. A whopping 14 songs. If the Cruefest shows wasn't a big enough rip off, this appears to be. Motley should go out, hit the road, play 2.5 hours every night and keep all they money to themselves.
The Chicago Sun Times has been blogging during the Live Nation/Ticketmaster hearings and you can read about them here. If that isn't enough, AEG may cancel their contract with Ticketmaster if their merger with Live Nation goes through. The Hitsville blog is also an essential link to reading about what is going on and how this will affect you.
U2's new record will hit stores shelves this Tuesday. The band played a surprise gig this past Friday on a London rooftop. There is a track by track review of the album at this link. The Chicago Tribune review can be read here, Bullz-eye has an excellent review from Jeff Giles at this link and lastly U2 biographer Neil McCormick gives his review of the album at this link.
