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Road Warriors 56

London’s Hyde Park is the site for the big 90th birthday party bash for former South African president Nelson Mandela. Among the artists scheduled to perform are U2, Paul McCartney, and Queen. Wow, what a lineup and what a tribute to Mandela.

Santana is planning a US tour beginning April 4 in Boston. For a full list of dates for the month-long tour, check out www.santana.com

In support of their Red Carpet Massacre album, Duran Duran will hit the road in North America beginning April 29 in Vancouver and running through May 31 in New York City. For more information, fans can visit www.duranduran.com.

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival seems to get bigger every year. The ninth annual event is scheduled to take place April 25-27 in Indio, California and some of the confirmed acts include Goldfrapp, Portishead, Jack Johnson, Death Cab For Cutie, Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara and Rilo Kiley.

Soulful singer/songwriter Marc Broussard has added dates to his spring tour in Athens, Georgia and Shreveport, Louisiana. Here is the complete list of shows:

Apr. 17 – 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: Angie Aparo

Apr. 18 – Artisphere – Greenville, SC – For more info click here.

Apr. 22 – Blue Moon Saloon – Lafayette, LA – For more info click here. For tickets click here.

Apr. 24 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

Apr. 25 – Antone’s – Austin, TX – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

Apr. 26 – Warehouse Live – Houston, TX – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

Apr. 27 – The Warehouse – Shreveport, LA – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

May 24 & 25 – Blues, Brews, & BBQ Festival – Avon, CO – For more info click here.

Aug. 29 – Strawberry Music Festival – Yosemite, CA – For more info click here.

The Bullz-Eye Hi-Fi – Nine Inch Jesus of Cool

Hope you had a good week, dear readers. Here’s what’s cooking this week over at Bullz-Eye’s music reviews section.

First off, James B. Eldred dives headlong into the new Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV. James also offers up his thoughts on Fractured Life by Air Traffic.

Next up, Jeff Giles returns having listened to Here Is What Is by Daniel Lanois, along with Soul Speak by Michael McDonald, and finally Wisely by Willie Wisely.

Mr. TV himself. Will Harris returns from his small screen escapades to chime in on Get the Party Started by Dame Shirley Bassey.

This writer gives his opinion on the new reissue of Jesus of Cool by Nick Lowe. Yes, it’s still very cool after all these years.

Mojo Flucke wants you all to know how he feels about Squeal by Swamp Cabbage. With a name like that, you know you want to find out how things turned out.

And to wrap things up, Michael Fortes discusses his thoughts about The New Crystal Silence by Chick Corea and Gary Burton.

So that’s it! Do enjoy our reviews as always, and stay tuned for another new assortment next week.

American Idol: Wow

Last night’s “American Idol” results show came down to a bottom 3 of Syesha, Kristy Lee Cook and David Hernandez. Simon Cowell thought that America got the voting “spot on,” and I can’t say I disagree with him or with America. Nice going.

Anyway, before that we were tortured with an hour-long show. They talked about next week being another Beatles week…which is never a bad thing. But first, a Beatles medley by the remaining 12. As you might expect, it was excruciating.

Then, pretty early on, it was on to the results. Carly Smithson, safe. Michael Johns, safe. Jason Castro, safe. Syesha, bottom 3. Then, after Simon said she belonged there, Syesha seemed genuinely pissed off. Ryan Seacrest handed her the microphone and had her perform, even though there was a 2 in 3 chance Syesha was staying.

After the break, Chikezie, safe. Amanda Overmyer, safe. David Cook, safe. Then Kristy Lee Cook in the bottom 3. Yikes, I just realized there are two people with the last name “Cook” in this thing. Well, probably not for long!

After Kristy did her horrendous version of “8 Days a Week” again, they invited Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee to perform George Harrison’s “Something” along with producer/pianist David Foster. Note that after Kat lost her record deal because her pop/R&B album, um, sucked balls, Foster swooped in and is producing her next project. Look, she is very easy on the eyes, but still is not the greatest vocalist in the world…but Foster will do his best to try and polish that turd.

Then it was back to business. David Archuleta, safe. Brooke White, safe. Down to David Hernandez and Ramiel. Ramiel, safe, but probably barely. David Hernandez, after telling Ryan the Bottom 3 doesn’t mean the Bottom 1, sings his ridiculous version of “I Saw Her Standing There” again.

So it was down to this: Syesha, Kristy, and David H. Syesha was the first sent back to safety, and I was happy for her, because she is clearly better than the other two, or at least she was this week. Then Kristy was told she was safe, prompting this response from Hernandez: “Wow.” Um, dude, get over yourself….not only was America disappointed to find out you once worked as a stripper in a gay bar, but you were AWFUL on Tuesday night. I mean, it was one small notch above Luke Menard. So that’s it…we’re down to the final 11, and I’m going to offer my power rankings based on overall talent and on this past week’s performances:

1. David Cook
2. Carly Smithson
3. David Archuleta
4. Brooke White
5. Chikezie
6. Amanda Overmyer
7. Michael Johns
8. Jason Castro
9. Syesha Mercado
10. Ramiel
11. Kristy Lee Cook

What do you all think? Let me know, and I’ll see you next week…..

Man-About-MySpace: Dreamline

All you headbangers, don’t despair over the ashes of Iron Maiden bootlegs, it’s true: Metal lives. The latest incarnation of the House that Zep built is the Derry, NH-based Dreamline. These Rush acolytes aren’t just about grinding guitars, they have the classic 1970s-’80s dramatic minor piano melodies that add a tinge of the classical-music style and open up the songs for jamming solos.

Here’s a live shot of their cut “Europa”:

Like that? Check out more on their MySpace and please be careful—don’t hurt yourself.

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