FanWire - Your Live Gig Guide!

Can't wait to buy tickets for REM at the Royal Albert Hall and open-air gigs?

2008-02-12T17:19:00.000Z

R.E.M. are one of those rare breed of bands that seem unstoppable the older they get. Their latest album has been named somewhat prognostic, ‘Accelerate’.
And accelerating is what REM are about to do this year! The band just announced a massive world-tour with summer open-air dates throughout Europe to promote the new album. An announcement for the UK dates is imminent – until then British fans can look forward to a very special concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where the band leads the 60th birthday celebrations for London’s ICA.
Also on the line-up and opening the event are the Foals, Duke Spirit and REM tour guitarist and former Soft Boys frontman, Robyn Hitchcock.

This gig could hold a few special pop moments; REM’s Peter Buck also plays in Robyn’s band, Venus 3, and Michael Stipe and Mike Mills have paid surprise appearances at Robyn Hitchcock's gigs in the past.

If you need tickets I recommend checking out the GET ME IN! fan-to-fan online ticket market.

Don’t waste time – buy your REM tickets now. I did mention REM are a great live band, right? No? Well, now I did! ;)

tickets still available for Take That's Countdown to Midnight 2008 NYE party

2007-11-28T10:27:00.000Z

Take That are on a roll! Considering that by common understanding of what a Boyband constitutes, the band simply shouldn’t exist at this stage in their career. Yet, Gerry, Mark, Howard and Jason manage to return in style. Their tour was one of the biggest in 2007 and 2008 is likely to continue the magic.

Take That fans around the world must have been over-excited to hear about the latest tour additions. Not only did they confirm a series of dates around Christmas and New Year in the UK, the band also announced the ultimate coup: a very special NYE bash at London’s O2 Arena. Simply called ‘Take That & Friends – Countdown to Midnight 2008’ the show will see a string of celebrity friends sharing the O2 stage with Gerry, Mark, Howard and Jason. The names of the guests are still kept under wraps, but if you believe rumours The Sugababes are part of the party and maybe there’s hope for the long overdue return of Robbie Williams to his old band. Oh, the excitement!

Countdown to Midnight 2008 is without a shadow of a doubt THE most anticipated NYE party in London or even the UK this year. Of course tickets sold-out in record time but you can always count on the nice guys from GET ME IN! Check their website http://www.getmein.com/ for the last few available tickets for Take That And Friends ‘Countdown to Midnight 2008’ NYE extravaganza at London’s O2 Arena (Millennium Dome), as well as for tickets for other dates for Take That’s world-tour.

Hurry up - don't miss out! And please let’s know if you managed to snap-up one of the hottest tickets in town!

Don't miss tickets sale for BBC's 'The Blue Planet Live!'

2007-10-30T10:53:00.000Z

BBC’s The Blue Planet goes on UK tour. The Blue Planet is one hell of a TV series, mesmerising its viewers with one beautiful film sequence after another, never seen like this before.

To take these cinematographic impressions from the small screen to a huge screen and add a dramatic soundtrack performed live by a full orchestra underneath, seems very logical, yet this has never been done before on such a scale.
George Fenton conducts the orchestra and over two hours and on two large screens you will get lost in this unique audio/visual experience.

Blue Planet tickets are selling fast but again, the GET ME IN! website has still some for sale. It’s a pretty cool site with loads of concert tickets on offer and every order is guaranteed. Pretty neat! Check it out: www.getmein.com.

Interview with George Fenton on The Blue Planet Live!

And a News Review of the The Blue Planet Live! back in 2006

Who needs Sex Pistols tickets?

2007-10-11T16:30:00.000+01:00

The Sex Pistols: England’s prime bad boys. The band that brought us punk rock, dethroned British TV legend, Bill Grundy, and sung God Save The Queen on the day of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations on a boat passing Parliament.

The Sex Pistols reunite to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of their ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here Come The Sex Pistols’ album!

The original line-up, featuring Johnny ‘Rotten’ Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock will play a short tour this fall through the UK with a 4-nights-stint at London’s Brixton Academy. The tour is backed by an NME campaign to bring album and the single ‘God Save The Queen’ to Number 1 in the charts – the position they got refused back in 1977 when panic-stricken authorities decided that ‘God Save The Queen’ was an unsuitable song to have in the charts, let alone topping it and thus pulled their weight and Sex Pistols were robbed of their victory.

We all should support the ‘Pistols. Go to the gig, buy the album - let's get them the recognition they deserve …

What? All concerts have sold-out?
Why don’t you try getting your tickets from GET ME IN!. I received their newsletter today and they claim having loads of tickets on their Site. Check it out! They have Sex Pistols tickets, as well as a wide range of concert tickets for sale. YAY!

Kate Nash tickets on sale for her forthcoming 2008 tour

2007-10-08T17:04:00.000+01:00

Kate Nash is the big success surprise of 2007.This time last year the indie darling was still playing small venues and struggling to get a mention in the mainstream media. Let’s put it that way: the average Sun reader might have thought Kate Nash was the week’s Page-3 girl. While this thought couldn’t be further from Kate Nash's shy, clean-cut girlie image, it’s interesting how she blogged herself to a record contract and pop stardom through her MySpace profile .... in no time!
For Kate Nash, MySpace certainly is what Liverpool’s Cavern Club was for the Beatles or New York’s CBGB’s for The Ramones or Blondie.

Her first major UK tour after the Number1 single ‘Foundations’ and Top10 debut was a huge success. Tickets sold in no time, becoming the summer currency with desperate fans shelling out serious money to see the shy, new North London pop icon on stage. As string of live appearances at most of the major festivals followed and while still on tour Kate has already announced another major tour across Europe for early 2008.

Were you one of those unlucky ones?

Don’t blink or you might miss her again; the girl is unstoppable. But there’s help – the nice guys from GET ME IN! have Kate Nash tickets forthcoming tour. It’s a great Site with concert tickets for pretty much every event. Check ‘em out.

The Verve - I got my tickets

2007-10-05T17:32:00.000+01:00

2007 might go down in British history as one of the worst summers, as well as the year of the reunions. From Led Zeppelin, The Police to the Spice Girls, Squeeze, House of Love or Take That … some interesting ones, some we might be able to have lived without.

The news of The Verve getting back together on the other hand seems a great move. Considering their sudden and acrimonious split in 1997, the Verve definitely have some unfinished business to take of.

They were one of the more interesting bands to emerge during the 90s, when most British bands were merely a 60’s tribute band. They emerged alongside bands such as Suede, Radiohead or The Manic Street Preachers and brought a combination of spaced rock-, glam- and punk with a soulful pop aesthetic that seemed totally out of step with what’s going on elsewhere.

Personally I favour The Verve’s first two albums, especially their second album ‘A Northern Soul’ is an all-time classic, but it wasn’t until album #3 that they hit the big time. ‘Urban Hymns’ was released in 1997 and was an instant world-wide success. The first single ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ became an anthem for a generation; the accompanying video is probably responsible for more street bust-ups than anything else.
After a successful tour and further hit singles including ‘Lucky Man’ or ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’, Verve guitarist, Nick McCabe announced his sudden, but not completely unexpected departure.

Richard Ashcroft embarked on a successful solo career but never matched the same success he enjoyed with The Verve. It wasn’t until Richard Ashcroft’s unexpected appearance during Coldplay’s set at Live8, performing ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ that all of a sudden fans the world over woke up and realised how much we all missed The Verve. Maybe this was the moment The Verve realised they had to return.

The sudden announcement for a string of UK gigs seems like the perfect early Xmas present no-one should miss. I missed the pre-sale but got my tickets from GetMeIn.com. Who else is going?

See The Verve live and buy your tickets in time. GET ME IN! is an online marketplace where fans can buy and sell Verve Tickets or any other concert tickets.

Led Zeppelin tickets frenzy from a fan's perspective

2007-10-02T18:09:00.000+01:00

I’m sure you all have heard the news by now: Led Zeppelin are about to return.
The last time the mighty Led Zeppelin played together was a gig in July 1980 in Berlin, Germany, two month prior to the untimely death of their drummer, John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham.

Almost 30 years after his death and only a handful of short re-union gigs, including 1985 Live Aid with Phil Collins behind the drum kit, in 1988 at the 40th birthday celebrations of Atlantic Records with John Bonham’s son, Jason taking over the drum duties of his father and at the private wedding of Jason Bonham.

Led Zeppelin’s loyalty to Atlantic Records is what gets Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John-Paul Jones once again back together.
In 2007, the Led Zeppelin will fly for one-time only in tribute to Atlantic Records founder, supporter and close friend of the band, Ahmet Ertegun. Once again, Jason Bonham will take the seat behind the drum kit. It’s family business, as usual.

I hope I’ll be lucky to snap-up a ticket for their reunion gig at London’s O2 Arena but it will be tough. Apparently no less than 20m fans signed-up for the 20.000 available tickets. Madness!!!!!!!! The Spice Girls “only” had 1m fans signing-up for priority bookings.

But the Led Zeppelin frenzy shouldn’t come as no surprise to me. Of course, everyone wants to see Led Zeppelin. They are the ultimate Rockband. Their infamous hedonistic lifestyle on tour has created more myths than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones put together. It’s rare that a band makes wild backstage headlines, while also being highly regarded for their musicianship. And what musicians they are! Jimmy Page is remains one of the most influential guitarists of all time, while Robert Plant, John-Paul Jones and John Bonham are equally regarded on their respective instruments. John Bonham’s drum beats spring to mind. Just think of his huge beat on their cover of ‘When the Levee Breaks’. That beat has been sampled by countless rap and hip-hop artists, including the Beastie Boys’ ‘Rhymin' & Stealin’ on their 1986 debut ‘Liscence To Ill’.

So, yes – looking forward to this gig but I realise my chances are slim. Sadly, the Robert Plant dismissed rumours about a possible full tour. Hence the London gig at the O2 Arena will be a one-off occasion. The O2 Arena is big, but far from being big enough to cater for every Led Zeppelin fans the world over. In order to get a ticket, fans had to pre-register and were chosen randomly by ballot, similar to the ticket system used for 2005’s Live8 concert in London.

Anybody reading this, have you registered? Any luck? I’m not going to ask you to donate your ticket, but if you feel like giving a fan (aka me…;) a Led Zeppelin ticket, I won’t hold you back.
In an interview with the BBC today, Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, revealed how much even he is looking forward to see the Led Zeppelin gig. Mick said, “It’s been a long time in the making. (…) And then I heard this awful rumour that they would only do half an hour. If I remember correct, the drum solo was about half an hour long - and I’m not exaggerating. They were really that long! But I’m sure they’re going to play longer. Surely they’ll play two hours. (…) If I’m here in London I’ll definitely go. (…) It’s a fantastic band.”
So there’s hope. Maybe Mick knows something we all don’t. Maybe, maybe a tour? Fingers crossed!

Led Zeppelin Ballot 1 October

2007-09-30T15:12:00.000+01:00

Did you get on the site? Have you registered for the chance for a ticket to the one off Led Zeppelin gig?? If you have you are not alone, as over 1 million people had registered on the site. Yes, over 1 Million!!

If you are one of the lucky few you’ll then have to spend £250 on your 2 tickets for the charity gig at London’s 02 Arena on November 26th. More than 1 million people will go into the ballot for Led Zeppelin tickets ... Fans who have been allocated the £125 tickets will be notified on October 1.

Tomorrow it's the moment of truth. Let me know if you are one of lucky ones!

Most Wanted: Pink Floyd

2007-09-27T15:41:00.000+01:00

Pink Floyd is the band most people would like to see reunite, according to a survey of music fans across Europe by digital music provider Music Choice.

The English band, which reformed for the London Live 8 concert in 2005 of course, topped the most wanted list that also included Swedish popsters Abba, the original Guns 'n' Roses line up and The Jam, the latter of which have recently had a partial reunion, though without the crucial involvement of frontman Paul Weller. Other bands in the top ten included Wham!, Spandau Ballet and even Boyzone.

The survey also asked music fans what current bands they would like to see split up. UK pop groups Girls Aloud and Westlife both appeared on that list, though that poll was topped by the Spice Girls, who have only just reformed!

What about you??

The Sex Pistols Are Back!

2007-09-26T09:21:00.000+01:00

God save the queen, The Sex Pistols are back! The legendary punk band has announced its first London & Manchester shows in 30 years, four concerts at the Brixton Academy and one gig at the M.E.N. Arena in November.

The band inspired a musical revolution in the late '70s - and now they're returning!
Their initial career only lasted a few short years, but its impact on music and culture was immense, especially in London and Manchester after a series of gigs in 1976.

The Sex Pistols comeback concerts:

Sex Pistols @ Brixton Academy London 8 November 2007
Sex Pistols @ Brixton Academy London 9 November 2007
Sex Pistols @ Brixton Academy London 10 November 2007
Sex Pistols @ Brixton Academy London 12 November 2007
Sex Pistols @ MEN Arena Manchester 17 November 2007

Well... what can I say? This is a must see for every diehard punk fan!!

Arctic Monkeys Announces New UK Tour!

2007-09-25T21:00:00.000+01:00

Indie stars Arctic Moneys have just announced a string of massive concerts for later this year. The band will play two gigs at the Alexandra Palace in London on the 8th and 9th of December. Manchester will follow two days later on the 11th and 12th. The Best Live Act winners will also play in Aberdeen at the AECC on the 14th and 15th.

Earlier this year the band were nominated for the Mercury Prize and an Ivor Novello. Well respected for their live performances, Arctic Monkeys headlined the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this summer. Tickets for the new concerts will go on sale at 9:00am on Thursday 27th September. Be sure to buy your tickets on time because they will sell like hot cakes!!!