Metro Pulse- Entertainment- Midwest
 
March 28th - April 4th, 2011

The Wonderwall Music Shoppe and Emporium in Oak Park Illinois is coordinating and co hosting a fund raiser for the ravaged country of Japan by partnering with Tratorria, a local eatery which is donating space for a concert that will recreate the Beatles classic performance at the Budokan arena in Tokyo in 1966. The event, which is to be held on April 14th between 6 and 9 PM at the restaurant, which is on 225 Harrison Street in Oak Park, will feature an array of Beatles imitators in addition to Beatles cover band Brit Beat that will perform the actual concert re-creation .

Tickets are $40.00 in advance and $45.00 at the door, call 708 948 7986 for more information. The American Red Cross will be the beneficiary of your donation, a truly worthy cause given the utter destruction that happened in Japan and all the help they need AND WILL CONTINUE TO NEED. The Beatles said it best "All you need is Love" and the Plastic Ono Band with John Lennon followed it up live in Toronto in 1969 with "Money, that's what I want', this time for a most honorable cause. A Splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Never in Chicago would this happen, but the New York Post is reporting that Bono of U2 held a birthday party for his wife's 50th birthday recently at a posh restaurant in New York and one of the guests was Michael Stipe of R.E.M.

R.E.M is releasing a new CD called "Collapse Into Now" and Bono was reported to have gone out on the sidewalk outside the eatery after dinner and attempted to pass out free copies of the new R.E.M CD to strangers walking by who refused to accept the free gift in droves, an astounding testimony to the stifling and impersonal nature of New Yorkers. Bono also had an air rights problem with his 27th floor penthouse in the north tower of the San Remo complex in New York, a $24,000,000 million dollar pad that was located next to an adjacent chimney that smoked out his space to he and his family's chagrin. Talk about the Unforgettable Fire.

The most expensive musical in history "Spiderman" is also taxing Bono in New York. After repeated delays for the previews and assorted episodes of serious injury on the set to both cast AND crew, the creative team met earlier this year before U2 embarked on an Australian tour to rework the storyline and the music, which is being written by Bono and the Edge and is being directed by Julie Taymor. It is now being reported that the premiere is slated for sometime in June. The projected cost of production and affiliated expenses at this point exceeds 65 million dollars, meaning this show will have to sell out for YEARS to recoup a profit or even break even, a daunting task in the fickle world of Broadway. The Foxwoods Theatre, a Live Nation venue, seats 1,829, making it one of the largest Broadway houses (The Hilton is the largest at just over 2,000, the average size of a Broadway house is about 900) and certainly factored in the show playing there given the exorbitant upfront production costs associated with it.

Ironically, it has been reported by attendees of the few previews performed in social media that the technical flourishes and staging were a wonder to behold, but the story line was muddled.

We fervently hope that the producers can work out the kinks so this show reaches it's full potential as we at Metro Pulse believe that the show has legs (no pun intended) and could play across the country and the world given the universal popularity and awareness of the central character. Good luck to them as we can't wait for this blockbuster to come to Chicago.

Make no mistake, on July 5th at Solider Field, we in Chicago will remind Bono and the band how much WE love them when the greatest rock spectacle I have ever seen pulls into town, tickets are still available at press time.

In keeping with our "New York " frame of mind this week, Telecharge.com has recently revealed that it has PREMIUM seats for selected Broadway shows available for extra money, contact the web site for details if you are planning to go to New York in the near future for inventory and list of shows available , of course we always knew they held back some of the best seats for certain shows, now they have officially admitted it and are unabashed in charging extra for them.

Peter Gabriel, former frontman for supergroup Genesis who left the band and the world dumbfounded in 1974 when he opted for a solo career after the release of the blockbuster "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", is coming out on tour this summer and is planning an orchestral themed performance dubbed the "New Blood" tour, the title of his ninth solo release, and the "New Blood" orchestra will be featuring reworked versions of the singers past hits, the tour swings into United Center on June 20th. Only 11 shows are slated for North America as of press time.

Death Cab for Cutie, one of this reporters Favorite bands, plays the Metro on May 20th. This is in support of their new release "Codes and Keys" due May 31st. Tickets are $35.00. A few days before, another one of this reporters favorites, Echo and the Bunnymen, play the Vic Theatre on May 17th.

The Monkees are celebrating their 45th Anniversary with a summer tour featuring Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones, but NO Mike Nesmith. They are playing the Holiday Star Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana on June 30th, tickets range from $56.00 to $114.00 with fees, but no Chicago date at press time. It may be this IS to be the Chicago date as the tour leaves little room for added dates on this leg.

From Elvis to the Queen in Chicago Dept- Elvis Costello plays the Chicago Theatre on May 15th with the Imposters as his back up band, NOT the Attractions. And, after reportedly having treatment for pancreatic cancer, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin plays the Chicago Theatre on May 19th. In recent interviews, she looks GREAT.

The Chicago Theatre also has TV personalities Chelsea Handler on May 11th and Bill Maher on July 23rd.

Evanston native Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is playing the Chicago theatre on June 28th in a rare solo concert. He is playing original and cover tunes on a UKELELE in this performance and is only slated to play 17 dates nationwide as of press time, ticket price is $78.00 before service charges.

Robert Plant plays the iconic Auditorium Theatre here in Chicago on Saturday April 9th with his Band of Joy, the latest incarnation of his ever changing musical persona, a recent Rolling Stone article recounts an interesting footnote about Robert, who at the tender age of 14 years old snuck into a Blues festival in the UK and ran into Sonny Boy Williamson in the urinal, and after trying to small talk with Williamson, Sonny Boy was effusive in his displeasure with the young man's overtures and promptly told him to you know what, to which Robert snuck backstage and stole his harmonica. Maybe that's where the impetus for the Lemon Song by Led Zeppelin on their second album came from?

If you are downtown and a music fan/baby boomer that needs a choice for your musical tastes on Saturday April 9th and Robert Plant doesn't fit the bill for ya, you can sashay down to the United Center to see the double bill of Rod Stewart AND Stevie Nicks in the "Heart and Soul" tour. Stevie Nicks is releasing her first CD of new material in TEN YEARS called "In your Dreams " on May 3rd, but this concert is billed as a greatest hits performance, tickets range from a top price of $149.50 downstairs to the upstairs 300 level price of $49.50.

With all of the press Lady Gaga has gotten lately, we find it more than amusing that Yoko Ono's 1972 era tune "Move on Fast", which has been remixed in this release , has topped the Billboard dance charts over Gaga and Rihanna, among others recently. And, in case you think it's a fluke, this is the SIXTH consecutive Number one dance track Yoko has released since DJ's released "Walking on thin Ice" in 2003 on her behalf.

Speaking of Lady Gaga, her second LP is due May 23rd, featuring none other than Clarence Clemons of E Street band fame (Springsteen) on the track "Edge of Glory", 2 singles have already been released in advance, "Born this Way" and "Judas" to much acclaim.

The Beach Boys plan a box set release of the "Smile" session outtakes later this year, the sessions were recorded in 1966 and 1967 and were never completed due to anxiety problems experienced by creator Brian Wilson. If I knew that, in my anxious mindset, The Beatles, my Capitol Records labelmates and fierce competitors back in 1967, were readying the release of the masterpiece "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" against me for the label's attention, I would have freaked out too.

Keeping with the Rock Royalty theme, Eric Clapton raised $2.15 million for his Crossroads Rehab center in Antigua by selling off some of his guitars and memorabilia on March 9th at Bonham's in New York. A 1948 hollow bodied Gibson L-5P garnered the highest price in the sale, fetching $83,000, but the famous "Blackie" Stratocaster sold at auction in 2004 for an astounding $959,500, prompting rumors Clapton had second thoughts about the guitar's submission and bought it back at any cost.

We in Chicago feel a special connection to the rehab center because we have hosted 2 of the 3 Crossroads festivals Clapton has staged at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois to benefit his Antigua facility (the other was at the Cotton Bowl in Texas in 2004, a 3 day event), amazing and historic day long concerts played by a parade of the best musicians on the planet that have been immortalized on DVD, check them out.

More Rock Royalty news- Did you know Joe Walsh of The Eagles married Marjorie Bach, sister of Barbara Bach? This makes him brother in law to one Ringo Starr, who met Barbara on the set of the movie "Caveman" in 1981 and married her soon after, they are still happily married to this day as Ringo enters his seventies, my how time flies.

And finally . . .

Fans of Chicago blues AND the early Rolling Stones, take note.
HDtracks.com will soon offer the early releases of the Rolling Stones on Abkco BEFORE they formed Rolling Stones Records in 1972 with the release of Sticky Fingers, the releases SO influenced by their exposure to the Chicago blues and some tracks were even recorded at Chess Records at 2120 S Michigan Ave right here in Chicago, the releases include the first 2 album releases they ever did, plus the classic releases 12x 5 and Big Hits and Through the Past Darkly plus many more, available on 24 bit remastered formats for download, the only way to listen to music, go to the web site for more information.t Rocks | The Rolling Stones (US) | The Rolling

Till the next time   MD
Michael .E. Dehn
metropulseinc@hotmail.com