Concert for Bangladesh, redux

Nov. 9, 2005

Last week saw the Los Angeles pre-miere of the film version of The Concert for Bangladesh - George Harrison and Friends, at which the likes of Ringo Starr, UNICEF ambassador Alyssa Milano, Angelica Huston, Tea Leoni, and, of course, George Harrison’s wife, Olivia,
and son, Dhani, all made appearances. Harrison’s wife said to the press at the event that George had been wanting to reissue the film, which documents the first ever charity concert event, for its 20th anniversary, and that they got to sift through performance footage in order to put some terrific extras on the DVD that weren’t in the original concert, which is great news for fans.
The concert, which is being released by Warner Music and is available in both DVD and CD formats, hit stores last week as an impressive 2-disc package, including a revitalized version of the original 99 minute film plus over an hour’s worth of bonus footage, including a documentary and some groovy previously-unseen cuts that include rehearsals and sound checks. The concert also featured many of George’s pals, including Ravi Shankar, the aforementioned Ringo Starr, and Bob Dylan; the original event generated millions of dollars for its charitable cause, and all artist royalties from the sales of these DVDs and CDs will also go to UNICEF...

Leeds, UK band Kaiser Chiefs, fresh off of the NME Rock N’Roll Riot Tour, have booked up a series of big club dates for next spring in the UK, including shows in Glasgow and Birmingham. Although there was some hopeful buzz of the band possibly embarking on another series of U.S. dates, as well, American Kaiser Chief fans will have to wait, as the UK dates will be their last prior to heading back into the studio to begin work on their second album. So, if you want to see them soon, make your plans head to the UK in April 2006, when the band will hit the road for that aforementioned tour with support acts Polysics and Graham Coxon...

Snow Patrol are in the process of moving into a London recording studio this week, too, to begin recording their next album, which they’ve already spent the past few weeks rehearsing. The follow up to their smash album Final Straw, the new album is said to have both “bigger and bolder” songs and, in the words of Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody, “songs as fragile as sugar paper,” so it sounds like an interesting mix. Popular live (but as yet unrecorded) tune “Chasing Cars” will be included, as will several other songs that the band has already been playing on tour. Producer Garret Lee will man the boards, and the album is expected out next year...

The Beastie Boys are prepping to drop their greatest hits set, Solid Gold Hits, this November, a collection that will span the group’s 24-year history from their humble NYC beginnings to now. The set will include 15 Beastie tracks, including “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” “Sabotage,” and the track that broke them in the U.S., “Fight For Your Right.” In addition, Beastie Boys live footage from their 2004 Madison Square Garden concert is newly being added to the iTunes website for purchase...

MINI BUZZ:
Sheryl Crow has been tapped to perform live during the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day football game - her performance will kick off this year’s Salvation Army Red Kettle Holiday Campaign...
My Chemical Romance will be touring Canada this fall, and will also squeeze a couple additional U.S. shows into their schedule, making stops in West Palm Beach FL, Vancouver, and Seattle - prior to their U.S. dates, they’ll be performing live in Europe...
This year’s Australian Big Day Out Festival has been booked and is ready to go - shows will include performances from Iggy Pop, Franz Ferdinand, The Magic Numbers, Kings of Leon, and Detroit’s own White Stripes...
Green Day are making a special appearance on the BBC this weekend, to play a nine-minute version of their new “Jesus of Suburbia” single (out Nov. 14) that will be marked as the Top of the Pops’ longest ever live performance...
New Order will be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame on November 16, placing them right alongside the likes of Queen and The Beatles...
And Madonna has received special per-mission from Scandinavian pop legends ABBA to use a sample of their song, “Gimme Gimme Gimme,” in her new single, “Hung Up” - ABBA, who generally have a strict no sampling rule regarding their tunes, broke that rule only for Madonna and, previously, for The Fugees - Madonna’s new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, which, of course contains the “Hung Up” single, is out November 14...
Out this week are these new releases... ON CD: The Fiery Furnaces’ Float Away... Jet Set Satellite’s Vegas... Natalie Imbruglia’s Counting Down The Days... Robbie Williams’ Intensive Care... Kate Bush’s King of the Mountain... and the RENT 2005 Movie Soundtrack... ON DVD: Go West’s Kings of Wishful Thinking... Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Rock Forever... Hip Hop 411... and Harry Chapin’s Remember When - The Anthology... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves, about this column or your fave musicians? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com!