March 18, 2024

Hurricane Helpers

Sept. 1, 2004
Clear Channel has helped organized an online auction in order to help raise money for victims of Hurricane Charley, the storm that caused an estimated $7.4 billion in damages in Florida. Over 40 musicians/celebrities have donated autographed guitars to the cause, the proceeds of which will aid displaced families and the American Red Cross. To bid on guitars from the likes of The Strokes, Our Lady Peace, Dashboard Confessional, Britney Spears, Dave Navarro, Deftones, Hoobastank, Incubus, Silverchair, Local H, and Thursday, simply log on to www.stormaid.com - there are also guitars from a number of country artists and classic rockers, and even one from, er, “rockin’” Rush Limbaugh...

Detroit’s own The Von Bondies have announced plans for an extensive fall tour that will hit the road on September 16 and will wrap up on October 1 in Boston (at Axis). A second leg for the tour will kick off in New York City on November 1 and will wrap in Boston again (this time at Avalon) on November 30; additional stops will include Grand Rapids, MI (9/16), Chicago (9/17), Columbus, OH (9/18), Chicago again (11/3), Minneapolis (11/6), and Hollywood (11/14). During the first set of dates, The Von Bondies will bring along Auf der Maur as opening act, with The Donnas along for the ride on the second stretch. The entire jaunt, of course, is in support of The Von Bondies’ major-label debut disc, Pawn Shoppe Heart, which hit stores back in March. Auf der Maur released their debut disc in May, and The Donnas’ most recent effort is 2002’s Spend the Night, although a new Donnas single is expected to hit radio in September, with a new Donnas full-length CD not far behind...

Scottish modern rockers Idlewild have just wrapped tracking on their fourth full-length disc, which was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air). It’s still going to be a while before that album sees the light of day (or CD store shelves), though - the record still has to be mixed, and word has it that the band wants to wait until after the holiday season to put the disc out there, although they might release a single before the year is out. The band’s going to stay active, live, though - they just played two acoustic sets in Hollywood last month, and have booked a couple of live dates for the end of August and for October...

And all-female Swedish modern rockers Sahara Hotnights, currently supporting their latest album, July’s Kiss & Tell, are just off a tour supporting fellow countrymen The Hives, and will begin their own U.S. tour on September 5, with additional dates supporting Phantom Planet. Their tour will include live shows in Syracuse, NY (9/5 at Syracuse University), Brooklyn, NY (9/13), Cleveland, OH (9/18), Detroit (9/19 at The Magic Stick), Chicago (9/20), and two shows in Hollywood on 9/28 and 9/29. The Like will also play at selected shows...

MINI BUZZ:
Cool British pop-rockers Supergrass are cele-brating their 10th anniversary as a band with a new best-of album (Supergrass is 10: The Best of ‘91-’04, out September 28), an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on October 1, and a U.S. mini-tour that will include stops in Boston (9/30), New York City (10/2), and Los Angeles (10/7)...

The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl is said to have over five hours worth of new Foo tunes for the band’s upcoming double album, which is expected to take the form of one acoustic disc and one “heavier” disc - no word yet on a release date...

Starsailor are offering up a mini-album online that consists of tracks recorded live over the summer - the download is available beginning August 23 at www.starsailor.net...

Velvet Revolver reportedly spent some time in an L.A. recording studio recording several cover songs that will serve as B-sides for their upcoming singles; among the tunes revamped to Velvet Revolver style were Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” and Aerosmith’s “No More, No More”...

Classic rockers Jefferson Airplane are prepping to release a DVD that will feature vintage live footage of shows filmed at, among other places, the Monterey Pop festival...
The documentary End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones - which chronicles the life of the band from their 1974 beginnings in NYC up until their farewell concert in 1996 - premiered in New York City last week...

Natasha Bedingfield, sister of Brit hitmaker Daniel Bedingfield, scored her first U.K. No. 1 single last week with “These Words,” which marks the first time in British chart history that a brother and sister have scored separate U.K. No. 1 singles...

And you can score your own copies of this week’s new releases simply by stopping by your local music store...

ON CD:
Ryan Cabrera’s Take It All Away (produced by Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik)... Northern State’s All City... Rilo Kiley’s More Adventurous... The Court and Spark’s Witch Season... Jason Mraz’s Tonight, Not Again - At The Eagles Ballroom... and Bjork’s baffling and beautiful Medulla...

ON DVD:
the also-baffling Nick and Jessica Simpson Variety Hour... The Best of Ringo Starr and His Band So Far... ... and I’m Only Looking - The Best of INXS... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves about this column or your fave music artists? Send ‘em to Kristi at expressmodernrock@hotmail.com!

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