The Bonnaroo festival has announced it's initial artist line-up for this year's festival and so far so good. Artisits include: The Police, Tool, Widespread Panic, The White Stripes, The Flaming Lips, Wilco, Ben Harper, and many many more. This year's festival will take place on June 14-17 in Manchester Tennessee. Festival organizers bought the farm so one should expect amazing improvements to an already amazing site. (Source)

Al Gore is teaming up with Live-8 organizers and putting together an event he calls Live Earth. The event will take place on 7/7/07 and will feature musical artists playing on all seven continents. The event is designed to raise awareness to what is happening in the environment. While the musical line-up doesn't look too great the idea is a good one and hopefully the message will come across.

Chris Cornell has announced that he has quit the supergroup Audioslave due to "musical differences." He is releasing his solo album later this year. Hopefully this means that the other three members of the group can spend more time rehearsing with Rage Against the Machine and launch a tour after Coachella. Cornell wishes the best of luck to his former band mates. (Source)

Indie-rock superstars Arcade Fire are in the midst of a five day residency in New York City. The band has and will be playing five shows at Judson Memorial Church right on the south side of Washington Square Park. Tickets for theses shows went onsale earlier in the year and sold-out in fifteen minutes. However after hearing that approximately sixty tickets were sold at the door the first night on a first-come first-served basis I figured I would try my luck. On Valentine's Day I made my way to the church at around 7:00 and braved the snow and cold weather as I waited in line to try out my luck. At 8:00 I was informed by security that I was too far back in line and there would be no room for me inside the venue. I decided to wait anyway just incase somehow I might get inside. After about ten minutes a woman came up to the line and asked if anyone was alone. I said yes and she informed me that she had anextra ticket and wondered if I would like to go with her. Of course I said yes and we made our way up to the door and she got us in, FOR FREE. Thank you Melanie for the best Valentine's Day gift ever. So after scoring the hardest ticket to get in the city I waited for about an hour before the band took the stage. They were great, mostly played songs from Neon Bible which sounds so good live. They officially brought the house down with "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" into "Rebellion (Lies)." If you ever get the chance to see this band live I highly reccommend it, although tickets will be nearly impossible to get. In attendance for the show was Drew Barrymore, Andy Samberg (the badn will play SNL on 2/24), and Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture. (Review)

Neon Bible (out March 6)

Keep it scene in the city!

Yesterday we all learned the news that former model and tv star Anna Nicole Smith passed away at the age of 39. It is a great loss to Hollywood. Smith was found dead in her Florida hotel room and was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Smith was in the news a lot recently after her son passed away and the birth of her daughter. She will be missed.

2007 seems to be the year of reunions. So far we've heard plans of Rage Against the Machine, the Police, Dispatch, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Iggy and the Stooges. Now we can add one more to the list. Van Halen has announced plans to tour this summer with original lead singer David Lee Roth. The band will embark on a 40 date tour some time this summer. (Source)

Gwen Stefani relased a statement the other day that said this will be her last tour before she will head back into the studio with her band No Doubt to record their next album. About damn time! (Source)

Justin Timberlake pleased New York City earlier in the week by adding a special song to his current set list. SNL star Andy Samberg joined JT onstage to do their rendition of "Dick in A Box."

• Is apple taking over the world?
• Could be a bad day for ipods in New York City.
• SXSW announce artist line-up.

Last night I went and saw Factory Girl. It was ok, not terrible but not great either. The actor playing Andy Warhol did a fantastic job and the rest of the cast was alright. Hayden Christensen as Bob Dylan though might have been one of the worst casting jobs I've seen in a long time. Tonight I'm heading down to the Knitting Factory with some friends to see a friend of a friend perform.

Keep it scene in the city!

Back to New York everyone and it feels good. Here is some news:

The Police reunion is official. For months there have been reports that the Police would be reuniting for a tour to coincide with the 30th anniversary of their first single. Well now the rumors are true as the Police have been announced as the opening act to this year's Grammy Awards. The trio will play together for the first time in over 20 years and will announce dates for an 80 gig tour that will take place later this year. (Source)

While this news is not really new anymore it is new to the blog since the announcement happened while I was away. The official line-up for this year's Coachella festival has been announced. The festival will take place over the course of three days this year for the first time since the festival's inception. The highlights for this year's festival include headliners Bjork, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a reunited Rage Against The Machine. (Source)

Last night some friends and I had a night on the town after the first week of classes. After what stated out as a little disappointing we trecked for over a mile around the the city before winding up at the Bulgarian Bar. This little hole in the wall on the Lower East Side was a great find. Amazing eastern European dancing music and the D.J. was none another than the lead singer of the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. So being back in New York City is pretty exciting. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Keep it scene in the city.