Monday 28 November 2011

Stevie Nicks And Dave Stewart To Play Sydney Entertainment Centre - 28th November 2011



You wouldn't usually expect for Dave Stewart to be support for a Stevie Nicks tour, but that's exactly what's happening this Australian tour, and Sydney fans will see it happen live at the Sydney Entertainment Centre tomorrow night.

Casual fans probably didn't know that Stewart produced Nicks' new album, In Your Dreams, and believe us - it's a real treat for both Stewart and Nicks' fans.

Brian McFadden acts as a bit of a third wheel on the tour, but there's no doubt McFadden still enjoys a strong fan base in Australia.

Nicks is tipped to perform Fleetwood Mac's Dreams, the band's prized #1 from years gone by. 

Also expect numbers from her new A Vampire's Dream, Soldier's Angel.

The new songs feature Stewart on guitar and we hear the work will resonate with the Sydney audience.

Needless to say, if your a Nicks, Stewart or even a McFadden fan, you don't want to miss this concert.

Promotional information secured by the Australia promoter of the tour reads: 

McManus Entertainment is thrilled to announce that Brian McFadden will be joining the legendary Stevie Nicks and Dave Stewart as a special guest for the 2011 Australian tour. McFadden will join the bill for the entire tour. 

Celebrated musician and songwriter Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics will also be touring Australia for this very special show.

Joining Stevie for these special shows will be celebrated musician and songwriter Dave Stewart from Eurythmics, who co-produced Stevie's new solo album, "In Your Dreams". Fans of both Fleetwood Mac and Eurythmics will be thrilled to know that Stevie Nicks and Dave Stewart will be performing their greatest hits from their respective bands as well as highlights form their solo careers.

"I'm so excited to bring Stevie back to Australia and give her the opportunity to play to her many fans across the country," said promoter Andrew McManus. "Stevie has one of the most unique and recognisable voices in the history of popular music and is also one of the greatest songwriters of all time. And I think there will be a whole new generation of fans due to the recent episode of 'Glee' based on the legendary Fleetwood Mac album, "Rumours."

Apart from Stevie's incredible work with Fleetwood Mac, she has also had an extensive solo career, collectively having more than 40 top 50 hits and selling more than 140 million albums worldwide. Just a few of her many solo hits include Edge of Seventeen, Leather and Lace, Stand Back, Bella Donna, Rooms On Fire and Stop Draggin' My Heart Around. Stevie will also be playing songs from Fleetwood Mac's extensive back catalogue. Some of their most loved songs include Rhiannon, Gypsy, Sara, Landslide, Dreams and Seven Wonders.

Joining Stevie on her Australian tour is Grammy and BRIT Award winning musician, songwriter and producer, Dave Stewart. Dave is best known for his work with Eurythmics and recently co-produced and co-wrote many of the songs on Stevie's latest album, "In Your Dreams". The album closes with the Stevie and Dave duet Cheaper Than Free. And Stevie sang a track with Dave on his 2010 solo album, "The Blackbird Diaries". His music career spans three decades and more than 100 million album sales. Some of Dave's biggest hits include I Only Want To Be With You (The Tourists) and Eurythmics hits Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Missionary Man, Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves, Would I Lie To You? and Thorn In My Side.


So, there you go fans. It's set to be a great night for music fans in Sydney so be quick to get your tickets if you haven't already.

Websites

Stevie Nicks official website - The Nicks Fix

Dave Stewart official website

Brian McFadden

Sydney Entertainment Centre

McManus Entertainment

Flourish PR

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

Eva Rinaldi Photography

Splash News

Music News Australia

New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys Bring Their NKOTBSB Tour To Australia


Thought boy bands of the 80s and 90's were dead and well past their used by date? It may be time to think again as New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys prepare for a full scale, more adult assault on Australian soil.

Here at the Music News Australia network we got our hands on some media material from both bands, so get ready for it Australia...

With the continued and insatiable fan demand, the unstoppable phenomenon that is NKOTBSB will officially bring their show down under! In May, New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys will come to Australia for four shows only, stopping in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. Tickets for the Australian tour dates go on sale to the public on Thursday, December 8th at 2pm through Ticketek.

“If our fans want us down under, we'll go down under,” said New Kids’ Donnie Wahlberg. “Our international fans have been flying to see us stateside for years, so now we are bringing the show to them. Get ready Australia, we are coming to you!”

The Australian leg will bring the historic NKOTBSB tour for a limited four-show run, giving fans across the globe chances to catch their favorite groups on one stage.  Fans in Australia can finally see what North American Press hailed as “One of the hottest tickets of the summer,” as described by OK! Magazine.  Entertainment Weekly raved, “Each tune was performed with the same energy, crotch-grabbing, and hip-thrusting that turned these groups into teens sensations years ago.  NKOTBSB may well be the tastiest musical mouthful of the summer.” 

NKOTBSB first shocked and delighted fans when they took to the stage together for a medley at the sold out NKOTB Radio City Music Hall show.  The two groups wowed audiences again in their first joint televised performance at the American Music Awards a year ago in November 2010 and have toured consistently through 2011 since coming together.  

With over 200 million albums sold between both bands, and smash hit after smash hit, these two pop sensations have dominated the music scene for more than three decades. Aiming to please, these guys are giving concert goers and diehard fans everywhere the ultimate “night out” experience.

NKOTB BACKGROUND

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK sold more than 80 million albums worldwide – including back-to-back international #1 songs, 1988’s Hangin’ Tough and 1990’s Step By Step – and a series of crossover smash R&B, pop hits like You Got It (The Right Stuff),  Cover Girl, Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time), Hangin’ Tough, I’ll Be Loving You, Step By Step and Tonight.  The group shattered concert box office records playing an estimated 200 concerts a year in sold out stadiums throughout the world.  They still hold many of these records to date.  They were Forbes highest paid entertainers of 1990, beating out Michael Jackson and Madonna.  The band boasted an extensive and highly profitable merchandise line which included everything from lunch boxes and sleeping bags to comic books, marbles and dolls.  More Information is available at http://www.nkotb.com/, facebook.com/pages/New-Kids-On-The-Block and twitter.com/NKOTB.


BSB BACKGROUND

For more than 18 years, Backstreet Boys have delivered the very finest pop music has to offer – tightly crafted songs, floor-shaking rhythms, and unmistakable harmonies.  One of the most successful groups in music history, with countless #1s, record-setting tours and worldwide sales in excess of 100 million, Backstreet Boys are also among pops most influential.  The band made history when all tickets for their greatly anticipated 11-week, 39-city Millennium North American Arena Tour sold out as soon as they went on sale- the vast majority within an hour.  At the time the Millennium Tour set a Ticketmaster­ record by selling 735,000 tickets in two hours.  They are also among the few bands to have received the Diamond Award from the R.I.A.A. for sales of more than 10 million on both the Backstreet Boys and Millennium albums.  The band is currently wrapping up a worldwide tour in support of their recent album, This Is Us.  More information is available at http://www.backstreetboys.com/, facebook.com/backstreetboys and twitter.com/backstreetboys.


Websites

New Kids On The Block

Backstreet Boys

Live Nation

Flourish PR

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

Eva Rinaldi Photography

Splash News

Music News Australia

ARIA Awards In Sydney's Olympic Park: Gotye, Kimbra, Boy & Bear roaring Success - 28th November 2011


It was that time of the year again - the night of night's for Australia's music industry.

What a night it was for the the 25th anniversary ARIA awards at Sydney's Olympic Park last night.

There were so many highlights.

How about Gotye (one of my favorites) winning three gongs, and then of course Prime Minister Julia Gillard (always looking for a bit of good PR) inducted Kylie Minogue into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Minogue was sincere in her thanks to the he ARIA board for "an incredible honour", saying "I'm a very proud Australian and tonight's award means so much to me". No, Dannii didn't win anything, before you ask.

PM Gillard met Minogue for the virgin time earlier this year while over in Japan while they were special guests at the Australian embassy fund-raising dinner for the tsunami disaster, advised Minogue was "a special Australian" who would take her "rightful place alongside music legends like Joan Sutherland and John Farnham and Paul Kelly" in the Hall of Fame. Nice words of support from PM Gillard, but how much of a music history expert is she? Maybe more than most people know...brave of her to wear the music expert hat.

It was quite a stand out year for Australian music.

Perhaps the biggest success story of the year, at least in the eyes of mass media was, Bruges-born Melbourne artist Gotye (Wally De Backer). They snatched ARIAs for best male artist, best pop release and best single of the year for the massively popular Somebody that I Used to Know, featuring New Zealand-born Kimbra. Kimbra, not to be outdone, snatched her first ARIA for best female artist for her debut album, Cameo Lover.

Featured performances were by Gotye, Kimbra and Boy & Bear, winning an impressive five ARIA awards for self-produced debut album Moonfire, including album of the year.

Guy Sebastian got the ARIA award for highest-selling single for his number one song Who's That Girl.

Sebastian thanked his pregnant wife Jules after picking up his award.

"I couldn't do what I'm doing without her, she's a great chick," he told the press.

Three-time ARIA-award winners the Living End performed brilliantly and won best rock album (The End is Just the Begin-ning Repeating) and most popular Australian live artist, as voted by the public).

The Wiggles got top honours for Children's Favourite, and also skipped into the Hall of Fame and collected the best children's album award for popular Ukulele Baby!

Legendary Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist Billy Thorpe was posthumously recognised for his final piece of work, Tangier. We wonder who will get the award next year, but it's quite likely too early to tell. Thorpe's wife, Lynn, and daughters Lauren and Dusty, collected the award, and fans and media lapped it up.

A bush tucker bag of celebs, including Delta Goodrem, Stevie Nicks, Missy Higgins, Iva Davies, former ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Chrissy Amphlett, actor Noah Taylor and Joel and Benji Madden presented awards.

Goodrem, who won seven ARIAs way back in 2003, put on a star performance and touching tribute to performing artists who we lost over the awards' rich 25-year history.

Western Australia's Drapht, opened the night, snatching best urban album for The Life of Riley.

Drapht thanked Gotye, who also snatched awards for producer of the year, best video and engineer of the year when nominations were announced earlier this month, for "not making a hip-hop album this year" - an insider award type of scenario.

Past ARIA winner Kasey Chambers added to her list of ARIA awards, winning her ninth best country album award for Little Bird.

"We said that if I get this one he'll have to get the one in Tamworth (Golden Guitar award) so we've made that stick," Chambers told journalists following her win.

Last year's winner of best rock album, Birds of Tokyo, won this year's publicly voted most popular Australian artist award, which holds a lot of street cred.

Art vs Science won best independent release for The Experi-ment and Front End Loader won its first ARIA award for best hard rock/heavy metal album, Ritardando.

Highest-selling album went to X-Factor winner Altiyan Childs for his self-titled debut and Guy Sebastian took out the highest-selling single for Who's That Girl.

2011 ARIA Award Winners...

ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Boy & Bear, Moonfire
SINGLE OF THE YEAR - Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST MALE ARTIST - Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST FEMALE ARTIST - Kimbra, Cameo Lover
BEST GROUP - Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST (ALBUM) - Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST (SINGLE) - Boy & Bear, Feeding Line
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE - Art vs Science, The Experiment
BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM - Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM - Billy Thorpe, Billy Thorpe's Tangier
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM - The Audreys, Sometimes the Stars
BEST CHILDREN'S ALBUM - The Wiggles, Ukulele Baby!
BEST COMEDY RELEASE - Hamish & Andy, Celebrating 50 Glorious Years
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM - Kasey Chambers, Little Bird
BEST DANCE RELEASE - Cut Copy, Zonoscope
BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM - Front End Loader, Ritardando
BEST POP RELEASE - Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST ROCK ALBUM - The Living End, The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating
BEST URBAN ALBUM - Drapht, The Life of Riley
HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM - Altiyan Childs, Altiyan Childs
HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE - Guy Sebastian, Who's that Girl (featuring Eve)
BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM - Sally Whitwell, Mad Rush: Piano Music of Philip Glass
BEST JAZZ ALBUM - Elixir featuring Katie Noonan, First Seed Ripening
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK/CAST/SHOW ALBUM - Chris Lilley, Angry Boys - Official Soundtrack Album
BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM - Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rrakala
BEST MUSIC DVD - AC/DC, AC/DC - Live at River Plate
BEST COVER ART - Alter, for Cut Copy, Zonoscope
BEST VIDEO - Natasha Pincus for Starkraving Productions, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR - Francois Tetaz, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR - Wally De Backer, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
2011 PUBLIC VOTED ARIA AWARD WINNERS
MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST - Birds of Tokyo
MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL ARTIST - P!nk
MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN LIVE ARTIST - The Living End

Websites

ARIA Awards

Australian Recording Industry Association

Sydney Olympic Park

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

Eva Rinaldi Photography