Can you stand losing The Police...again?

May 18, 2008

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference with The Police (the band, not the NYPD) last week in Times Square to announce that the band will perform their final concert ever (or so they say) in New York on a date to be revealed in August. The show itself will be a fundraiser, with proceeds benefiting public television arts programming. The band will also contribute $1 million to the mayor’s MillionTreesNYC initiative, which aims to plant 1 million trees by 2017; The Police’s contribution will fund the planting of 10,000 trees across all five of NYC’s boroughs. The mayor also presented each member of The Police with his own key to New York City, in exchange for which he received an all-access backstage pass to any Police concert. Now, whether or not that whole “final” concert thing actually sticks or not is anyone’s guess...
The Annual Webby Awards were held last week, too, with several modern rockin’ winners. For starters, Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am was honored with a special achievement award for his “Yes We Can” viral video in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama (the video was produced independently of Obama’s campaign, and featured Obama’s voice set to will.i.am’s music and melody with additional vocalizations from John Legend, Herbie Hancock, and other Obama supporters). Video director Michel Gondry (White Stripes) won a special mention for encouraging filmmakers to recreate their favorite movies and share them online, via the concept behind his “Be Kind Rewind” big-screen movie, and also won Webby Film and Video Person of the Year for his “inventive visual style and storytelling.” And although he’s not technically a musician, the very hip (and musically tied-in - just ask The Decemberists) Stephen Colbert - Webby Person of the Year - received special recognition for his use of the internet to connect with fans. National Geographic, Apple, and The New York Times were among the other non-musical winners...

Hippies, rejoice - now there’s a festival just for you, and it’s not Bonnaroo. The much more specifically-marketed Hippiefest will kick off its travels on July 11 in Phoenix, AZ, and will stay on the road through August 10, with a rotating roster of acts across 22 concert dates. With its goal being to “re-create the ‘60s generation,” the lineup includes the likes of Eric Burdon and the Animals, The Turtles, Jack Bruce, The Moody Blues’ Denny Laine, former Hollies member Terry Sylvester, flower-power’s own Melanie, The Rascals, and The Zombies. Tix range from $25-$75, and you can get all the groovy details, man, at www.hippiefest.net...
And in other festival news, the first Sunset Strip Music Fest is now slated for June 26-28 in Los Angeles, and will take place in a variety of venues along L.A.’s Sunset Strip. Designed to celebrate the musical history of the famed street, performances have been booked so far for Louis XIV, The 88, Cypress Hill’s B Real, and Hot Hot Heat, among others; CNN’s Larry King is also scheduled to moderate a roundtable discussion about the strip and the music industry with various music industry biz icons. More artists are expected to be announced, too...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Panic! at the Disco’s latest video is complete for their new single “That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed),” in which Russian nesting dolls get taken apart to reveal -surprise! the band, in miniature. You can see the quirky clip now at www.youtube.com (just type in panic disco green gentleman)...

MINI BUZZ:
Beck is set to release a sorta-surprise Danger-Mouse-produced new album sometime within the next six weeks...
Eclectic-pop duo Mates of State will release their fifth album, Re-Arrange Us, on May 10, with 10 songs and three different producers (Peter Katis, Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, and Spoon drummer Jim Eno)...
Australian singer Kylie Minogue was just bestowed France’s highest cultural honor, The Order of Arts and Letters, for her work on the international music scene; previous recipients have included David Bowie and Bob Dylan...
The Hold Steady has decided on the final tracklisting for their fourth upcoming album, Stay Positive - the disc will include tracks “Constructive Summer,” “Sequestered in Memphis,” and the title track, plus contributions from Guided By Voices’ Doug Gillard and producer John Agnello...
Retro prog-rockers Yes are preparing for their 40th anniversary tour this summer by writing some new material, which is said to be more of the lengthy, epic, many-movement compositions the band was often known for...
And if that wasn’t enough old-school for you, be forewarned that New Kids on the Block are slated to release their first new music in 14 years on May 13, when the single “Summertime” will precede an upcoming NKOTB tour...
ON CD: The Yellowjackets’ Lifecycle... Flobot’s Fight with Tools... Various Artists on A-Square (Of Course): The Story of Michigan’s Legendary A-Square Records... The Takeover UK’s It’s All Happening... David Cassidy’s Live in Concert... and Dan Zanes’ Nueva York!... ON DVD: Los Straitjackets in Concert... The National’s The Making-of Boxer... Underoath’s Survive, Kaleidoscope... and Josh Groban’s Awake Live... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave musicians? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com