THE BRIT AWARDS 2011-DATE AND VENUE ANNOUNCED!

February 2011 will mark the start of a new era for the UK’s most prestigious music event. The BRIT Awards 2011 with MasterCard today confirms their move to the world’s most popular music venue, The O2 arena in London, for next year’s ceremony. The move is the first of many exciting developments to be unveiled in the run up to 2011’s extravaganza, which will take place on Tuesday 15th February and will be broadcast live on ITV after a new exclusive three year deal was agreed with the broadcaster.

The Awards have constantly evolved over the years, becoming bigger and better while celebrating the unrivalled achievements of the British recording industry.

Following this year’s successful celebration of their incredible 30 year history, BRIT Awards 2011 Chairman David Joseph has been looking at new ways to enhance the Awards whilst maintaining the show’s legendary spirit of celebration, taking it forward for both a new and existing generation of BRIT viewers.

Speaking about the move David Joseph commented, “Looking at what The BRITs stands for – the ‘must see’ spectacle and the unique performances which stretch every artist who performs – it was clear that moving to a state-of-the-art venue like The O2 was an obvious evolution.”

David Campbell, President and CEO of AEG Europe, owners and operators of The O2 added: “Since The O2 opened nearly three years ago we have wanted to host The BRIT Awards and I am absolutely thrilled that dream has become reality. We will ensure, along with the BPI, that the awards are the biggest and best yet, and are delighted to be the new home for the awards.”

Additionally to announcing the move to the O2, The BRIT Awards with MasterCard has also secured ITV as its national broadcaster. The programme will be executive produced by John Kaye Cooper for ITV.

ITV Director of Entertainment and Comedy Elaine Bedell, said: “We have an excellent, long standing relationship with The BRITs and are delighted to be the official broadcaster for the UK’s biggest music awards ceremony over the next three years. Our viewers love the anticipation of what a live music show can bring as some of the worlds biggest performers take to the stage.”

The BRIT Awards 2010 with MasterCard saw over forty international territories around the world broadcast the show to tens of millions. It was the 30th BRIT Awards, hosted by Peter Kay, with stunning live performances from Lady GaGa, Jay-Z, Dizzee Rascal with Florence & The Machine, Lily Allen, Alicia Keys, Kasabian, Cheryl Cole, JLS and Robbie Williams.

MAIDEN ANNOUNCE RELEASE DATE, ARTWORK AND TRACKLISTING FOR NEW ALBUM “THE FINAL FRONTIER”

The release date for IRON MAIDEN’S highly anticipated new studio album THE FINAL FRONTIER is now confirmed for Monday 16th August (Aug 17th in the USA). The new album artwork has just been unveiled on their website http://www.ironmaiden.com and was illustrated by Melvyn Grant. To mark the occasion, the band have made special arrangements for one new album track 'EL DORADO' to be made available Worldwide as a FREE digital download MP3 with immediate effect via their website http://www.ironmaiden.com

Singer Bruce Dickinson explains: “‘El Dorado’ is a preview of the forthcoming studio album. As we will be including it in the set of our Final Frontier World Tour (which opens in Dallas On 9th June - full dates below) we thought it would be great to thank all our fans and get them into The Final Frontier mood by giving them this song up front of the tour and album release.”

The band reunited with long-time Maiden producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau to record the album and then moved to LA to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band, it was where they recorded the Piece Of Mind (’83), Powerslave (’84) and Somewhere In Time (’86) albums.

Bruce comments: “The studio had the same vibe and it was EXACTLY as it had been in 1983, NOTHING had changed! Even down to the broken shutter in the corner...same carpet....everything... It was really quite spooky. But we felt very relaxed in such a familiar and well-trodden environment and I think this shows in the playing and the atmosphere of the album”

Thirty years on from their eponymous debut album in April 1980, The Final Frontier will be Maiden’s 15th studio album, making a remarkable average of a new album every two years for 30 years and totalling over 80 million album sales during this period.

The full tracklisting for the album (total running time 76:35) is:

THE FINAL FRONTIER

1. Satellite 15.....The Final Frontier 8:40
2. El Dorado 6:49
3. Mother Of Mercy 5:20
4. Coming Home 5:52
5. The Alchemist 4:29
6. Isle Of Avalon 9:06
7. Starblind 7:48
8. The Talisman 9:03
9. The Man Who Would Be King 8:28
10. When The Wild Wind Blows 10:59

The Final Frontier World Tour begins in Dallas on June 9th with 25 shows in major cities across the USA and Canada, playing to an expected 350,000 fans or more. Following this the tour will ship over to Europe starting in Dublin on July 30 and playing a few selected major festivals and stadiums, finishing in Valencia, Spain, on Aug 21 and including a concert in Transylvania.

Says bass player and founder member Steve Harris: “We’re hugely excited about this tour. I think the fans will really like the brand new stage production and lights and we will also be debuting one of the new album tracks, ‘El Dorado’. Our Texan fans will be the very first people anywhere to hear it live, so it will be interesting to see their reaction and how it goes down with the crowd on the night! Eddie has changed a bit for this tour but is possibly the most outrageous one to date...I can’t say too much about him as don’t want to spoil the surprise but I guarantee he will scare the hell out of you !”

The full list of dates for the First Leg are:

JUNE
Wed 9 US Dallas, TX Superpages.Com Center
Fri 11 US Houston, TX Cynthia Mitchell Pavilion Woodlands
Sat 12 US San Antonio TX AT&T Center
Mon 14 US Denver CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
Wed 16 US Albuquerque The Pavilion
Thu 17 US Phoenix AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
Sat 19 US San Bernardino CA, San Manuel Amphitheatre
Sun 20 US Concord CA, Sleep Train Pavilion
Tue 22 US Auburn WA, White River Amphitheater
Thu 24 CAN Vancouver BC, GM Place
Sat 26 CAN Edmonton AB Rexall Place
Sun 27 CAN Calgary, AB Saddledome
Tue 29 CAN Saskatoon SK Credit Union Centre
Wed 30 CAN Winnipeg MB, MTS Center


JULY
Sat 3 CAN Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre
Tues 6 CAN Ottawa, ON, Cisco Blues Festival
Wed 7 CAN Montreal QC Bell Centre
Fri 9 CAN Quebec, QC Summer Festival
Sun 11 US Holmdel NJ, PNC
Mon 12 US New York NY, Madison Square Garden
Wed 14 US Pittsburgh PA First Niagara Pavilion
Thu 15 US Cleveland OH, Blossom Music Center
Sat 17 US Detroit MI, DTE Music Theatre
Sun 18 US Chicago IL, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Tue 20 US Washington DC, Jiffy Lube Live
Fri 30 IRELAND, Dublin, The O2


AUG
Sun 1 UK Knebworth, Sonisphere Festival,
Thu 5 GERMANY Wacken Festival
Sat 7 SWEDEN Stockholm Stora Skuggan Sonisphere Festival
Sun 8 FINLAND Pori Kirjurinluoto Sonisphere Festival
Wed 11 NORWAY Bergenhus Festning Koengen
Sat 14 HUNGARY Sziget Festival
Sun 15 TRANSYLVANIA Cluj, Polux Mall
Tue 17 ITALY Villa Manin Codroipe, Nr Udine
Thu 19 BELGIUM Pukkelpop Festival
Sat 21 SPAIN Valencia Auditorio Marina Sur

For all the latest information on the tour and for ticket availability please go to http://www.ironmaiden.com

FIGHTSTAR RELEASE ‘BE HUMAN’ DELUXE EDITION CD/DVD ON MARCH 1ST 2010

2009 was a hugely successful year for Fightstar, they had a top 20 album with their third record, “be human”; played two sold out headline tours which included Shepherds Bush Empire in November; appeared at T4 on the Beach, Radio 1’s Big Weekend and the iTunes festival as well as having 4 singles playlisted at Radio 1. Their MySpace site has racked up 2.2 million profile views and the band drew huge crowds at the Download and Reading and Leeds festivals.

The recording of “be human” was self-funded and saw the band collaborating with renowned arranger Audrey Riley (Coldplay, Muse), featuring a 22-piece string section recorded at George Martin’s legendary Air Studios. Released in April 2009, the album became their most successful release to date.

Now, as a thanks to their fans and to tie in with their forthcoming tour, the MTV Presents show at Dingwalls on March 4th, and an appearance on Channel 5’s Gadget Show, the band will be releasing a CD/DVD deluxe version of the album limited to 5,000 copies.

“be human” deluxe ltd edition will have all new artwork, and includes FIVE new tracks plus a live DVD entitled ‘Fightstar: Unplugged at the PictureDrome’. It is due to be released on March 1st 2010. The extra tracks are:

“A City On Fire” (the physical launch of the band’s recent single); “28k Resolution”; “It’s Blood Is Black”; Mvua Nyeusi” plus the track “Battlefield” which will be exclusive to the iTunes version. “Battlefied”, a Jordin Sparks cover, was recorded for Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge last year and made it to the semi finals in the competition for best cover version at Christmas.

The DVD “Fightstar Unplugged at The PictureDrome” was filmed on December 13th 09 at Northampton’s PictureDrome venue. The songs featured are:

1. Palahniuk’s Laughter
2. 99
3. The English Way
4. Our Last Common Ancestor
5. Sleep Well Tonight
6. Battlefield (Jordin Sparks cover)
7. Vincent (Don McLean cover)
8. Cross Out The Stars

The DVD also features videos for the singles “The English Way”, “Mercury Summer”, “Never Change” and “A City On Fire” as well as exclusive behind the scenes footage and interviews.

Fightstar set out on another tour in February:

Mon 8th Cardiff - Millenium Music Hall
Tue 9th Brighton - Concorde 2
Wed 10th Wolvehampton - Wulfrun Hall
Fri 12th Sheffield - Corporation
Sat 13th Edinburgh - Studio 24
Sun 14th Liverpool - Academy 2
Tue 16th Norwich - Waterfront
Wed 17th London - Heaven
Fri 19th Brussels - VK Club /Joint headline with INME
Sat 20th Amsterdam - Sugar Factory
Sun 21st Berlin - Luxor
Tues 23rd Cologne - Blue Shell
Wed 24th Paris - Fleche D’Or

Check out the band on http://www.myspace.com/fightstarmusic or http://www.fightstarmusic.com

ALL TIME LOW HEADLINING KERRANG! RELENTLESS TOUR 2010 - JANUARY 2010 – NOW SOLD OUT

2010 is fast become the year of All Time Low. Since becoming one of the hottest bands in the USA with a No 4 album entry selling over 60,000 copies in it’s first week and multiple sold out tours, the band have repeated the feat in the UK. Widespread critical acclaim backed up with radio and TV playlists and a completely sold out Uk tour in Sept 2009. the band continue to rack up some enormous statistics – including over 63 million myspace plays and over 400,000 myspace friends.

The bands lightning ascent is set to carry on with the imminent release of next single “Lost In Stereo”. Another classic slice of punk rock with pop sensibilities, the track has one of the catchiest choruses and an equally impressive video. The track is classic All Time Low – driving rhythms overlaid with punchy guitars and the powerful, infectious vocal melodies of singer/guitarist Alex Gaskarth. The band – completed by Jack Barakat (guitar), Zack Merrick (bass) and Ryan Dawson (drums) are set to become one of the pop rock acts of 2010 – and in “Nothing Personal” they have a diverse album that delivers twelve pop rock songs of the highest quality.

All Time Low released their debut album “So Wrong, It’s Right” is late 2007 to critical and commercial acclaim worldwide. As UK born singer/guitarist Alex Gaskarth explained at the time “We’re proud of who we are, and we’re trying to take pop-punk back to where it used to be: a place that’s about having fun, being positive and building a community.”

All Time Low are an established live act having toured with the likes of Fall Out Boy, Cute Is What We Aim For, Sugarcult and Plain White T’s amongst others. 2008 saw the band on the 44 date Alternative Press Tour in the USA and also a full UK tour (including performances at Give It A Name festival and Reading/Leeds festivals in 2008). The band’s Sept/Oct tour of the UK sold out and the band have just announced as headliners on the forthcoming Kerrang! Relentless Tour 2010 alongside The Blackout, Young Guns and My Passion. Full dates for what promises to be one of the tours of 2010 are a follows:


January 2010
Sat 23rd Dublin, Academy
Sun 24th Dublin, Academy
Mon 25th Southampton, Guildhall
Tues 26th Bristol, O2 Academy
Wed 27th Norwich, UEA
Fri 29th Cardiff, Cardiff University
Sat 30th Birmingham, O2 Academy
Sun 31st Leeds, Academy

February 2010
Mon 1st Glasgow, Academy
Wed 3rd Newcastle, Academy
Thurs 4th Manchester, Academy
Fri 5th London, Roundhouse
Sat 6th London Roundhouse


The album “Nothing Personal” is out now. A single “Lost In Stereo)” is released on the 5th April 2010. Hopeless Records are distributed in the UK through ADA.

http://www.myspace.com/alltimelow

BLOOD RED SHOES ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM & SINGLE DETAILS

ALBUM: “FIRE LIKE THIS” MARCH 1ST 2010
SINGLE “LIGHT IT UP” FEBRUARY 22ND 2010
V2/CO-OP

Blood Red Shoes know you don’t need a whole string section to denote ‘emotional’, or a whole horn section to do ‘rousing’. They know rock music doesn’t need to be smothered in effects or laced with devious studio tricks to make an impact. There is another way, a way to make music that really resonates. It involves boiling songs down to their essence – just raw guitar riffs and drum hits presented crisp and unadorned.

‘Fire Like This’ is both a progression and a paring down, a record that sees Blood Red Shoes – vocalist/guitarist Laura-Mary Carter and vocalist/drummer Steven Ansell – getting back to their DIY/punk roots. Like its predecessor, 2008’s bright, propulsive ‘Box Of Secrets’, it was recorded with producer Mike Crossey, using the facilities of his new Liverpool studio The Motor Museum. This time, though, things would be different. Recording to analogue tape with the bare minimum of guitar or vocal overdubs, Blood Red Shoes’ second album slices away a lot of the gloss in favour of a gutsy, raw and more intense sound.

Intensity is the word. ‘Fire Like This’ is simply exceptional rock music, steeped in a knowledge of your alt-rock staples – Nirvana, Babes In Toyland, Drive Like Jehu – but with its own fingerprint. ‘Don’t Ask’ and ‘Count Me Out’ harness scything guitars and loud-quiet dynamics like they never went out of fashion. But there’s more ambitious fare here, too. Take dramatic seven-minute closer ‘Colours Fade’, originally released as a free download from their website– or the tender, fraught ‘When We Wake’, a sombre mediation on mortality that nonetheless burns with hot emotional force. “In the end is this all we can ask for?” breathes Laura-Mary, as Steven’s drums patter with a quiet intensity.

This is not your typical rock fare, but Blood Red Shoes thrive on such paradox. This, remember, is a band just as comfortable supporting Rage Against The Machine in front of 30,000 Parisians as they are rocking up at a benefit gig for Shelter or Love Music Hate Racism just because, you know, it matters.

The bulk of the Brighton duos second album was road-tested and honed on long tours throughout 2008 and 2009, tours plotted with an ambition and persistence that would shame many of Blood Red Shoes’ British peers. It’s also won them an international fanbase that’s the envy of their contemporaries.

Steven Ansell says of their sophomore album:
“We wanted to make a record that's heavier and more adventurous than the first album and ended up with something that feels a lot darker and eerie. It has more complex song structures and intricate guitar parts than before. We really tried to push ourselves as vocalists and not hide behind lots of overdubs, I think because of that it's more personal and more real too."

Blood Red Shoes will tour their second album this March, dates in support of the release are below. The single ‘Light It Up’ will be released a week prior to ‘Fire Like This’ on February 22nd.

MARCH 2010

Tues 2nd Birmingham, 02 Academy 3 http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/
Weds 3rd Nottingham, Rescue Rooms http://www.seetickets.com/
Thurs 4th Bristol, Thekla http://www.seetickets.com/
Fri 5th Brighton, Komedia http://www.wegottickets.com/event/66111
Sat 6th Leeds, Cockpit https://www.lunatickets.co.uk/
Mon 8th Edinburgh, Electric Circus http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/
Tues 9th Dundee, Doghouse http://www.gigsinscotland.com/
Wed 10th Glasgow, King Tuts http://www.gigsinscotland.com/
Thurs 11th Newcastle, 02 Academy 2 http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/
Fri 12th Manchester, Academy 3 http://www.seetickets.com/
Sat 13th London, Garage http://www.seetickets.com/


http://www.bloodredshoes.co.uk