Archive for the ‘bands’ Category
It started 3 days ago and will run until April 21st. EMI have started an auction on e-bay of items donated by artists and songwriters on the label’s books in order to raise cash for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Artists include The Beatles, David Bowie, The Chemical Brothers, Radiohead and The Beastie Boys while the items on offer range from private recording sessions and ‘meets and greets’ to signed albums and photos.
At the time of writing, a signed and used Hermès bag belonging to Serge Gainsbourg’s ex, singer and actress Jane Birkin, had reached more than $7,500. A Robbie Williams life-sized cardboard cut-out (?) had so far attracted 3 bids and £67.
EMI is promising to match the money raised, up to a maximum of €1,000,000 and is adding more items to the auction over the coming weeks to sustain interest. So, if you fancy splashing out for a good cause, go and have a look at the EMI auction before 21st April…
Don’t know if it really was the “best funeral ever”, although I’ve never been to one in Madison Square Garden in New York, or one that attracted 14,000 people… and that already makes it sound quite good…
LCD Soundsystem played their last gig (3 ½ hours long) last Saturday. When tickets went on sale, they sold out in 15 seconds.
No surprise then, when touts started selling tickets for as much as $1,500 to see the band that has been going for 10 years and released three albums and nineteen singles.
LCD frontman James Murphy tweeted in response to the prices: “NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, IT IS NOT WORTH THAT KIND OF MONEY TO SEE US!”
This was a popular funeral, though, and neither Murphy nor the touts seemed to put people off. There have been some though who see more of a cynical stunt in this event.
As this is just the end of a project for Murphy, could the spectacular end of LCD Soundsystem be an attempt to promote future solo work, or is it refreshing to see a band go out with a bang rather than clinging on until the bitter end? Either way, would have been good to be able to judge for myself…
I do remember, all those years ago, when Robbie started to get a bit wild (and therefore way more interesting!) and eventually announced that he was leaving Take That.
I personally thought it was a great thing for him, and a bad thing for the group – Robbie was getting way more lines in the papers than the others put together, but he was not in the same place as the rest of them and needed to be free. Robbie’s successful solo career soared, and Take That disappeared into obscurity.
But what a difference 10 years can make! Robbie floundered and Take That soared, because 10 years on all of there fans were grown ups with the money to spend on concert tickets to relive their youth – and oh how they bought those tickets!
I think that 10 years ago, Take That couldn’t have worked without Robbie (and didn’t), but these days they don’t really need him to work – but with him, they open up totally new avenues.