The AJC technology folks have scooted us onto a new blog platform, so please update your bookmarks and come check out The Music Scene at its new playground.

Here’s the address: http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/atlanta-music-scene/

The primary difference is that you now have to register to leave a comment – but just one time, then you’re good to go forever and ever.  Or at least until the next software change.

This new software is also more compatible with mobile devices, so please check out the blog on your smartphone and/or tablet as well at m.accessatlanta.com.

If you have any issues, zip me an email at mruggieri@ajc.com.

As always, thanks for reading!

Continue reading Come make some noise on The Music Scene’s new online home »

Morrissey performed Jan. 9 in Greenvale, N.Y. Photo: Getty Images

[This show has been rescheduled for March 30 at Cobb Energy Centre. All tickets purchased for the January date will be honored.]

After being diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer, Morrissey has scrapped six upcoming tour dates, including Thursday at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Billboard first reported the canceled dates; the tour is slated to resume Feb. 9 in Las Vegas.

Hang tight for updates from Cobb Energy regarding a rescheduled date and/or refunds.

Though no fault of Morrissey’s, the cancelation is a double sting for fans, as this date was a makeup for his December concert at Cobb Energy. At the time, the former Smith’s frontman nixed several shows in order to be with his ailing mother.

A statement from the singer’s representative said rescheduled dates will be announced in the coming days.

Morrissey, 53, was admitted to a Michigan hospital last week with a “suspected bladder infection” that has since …

Continue reading Morrissey cancels Atlanta show at Cobb Energy Centre »

[Updated 6 p.m.: Congrats to our randomly selected winners, Denise Jones and Teri F. Thanks for playing, everyone!]

Come on, admit it, you spent more than a few Saturday mornings back in the day watching “The Jackson 5ive” cartoon series. Maybe you caught it in its original run in the early ‘70s, or maybe you’re from the Michael Jackson-as-solo-star era and watched the show when it was rebroadcast in 1984-85 to capitalize on Michael’s popularity.

Well, the entire series, including 46 remastered songs (and yes, “ABC,” “I’ll Be There” and “The Love You Save” are among them) has just been released on Blu-Ray and DVD, and thanks to our friends at Morris + King PR firm, we’ve got two of the sets to give away.

So what’s your favorite memory from the show? Or, to make it even easier, what’s your favorite Jackson 5 song?

Give me a response to either in the comments section below by 4 p.m. Friday and you’ll be eligible to be a randomly selected winner of one of the Blu-Ray sets.

So is …

Continue reading Friday Riffs: Your favorite Jackson 5 song could net you a DVD »

Photo: Alex Lake

“So good to see you after such a long time…we need to make up for lost time tonight,” Keane frontman Tom Chaplin said at the start of the band’s Tabernacle show Thursday night.

He was right on both accounts. It’s been nearly eight years since Keane last played Atlanta (at the Tabernacle and Music Midtown) and the band spent its nearly two-hour set taking appreciative fans on a flawlessly executed 21-song journey through their four-album career.

Though the English-based Keane has never reached the stature in the U.S. that it has achieved internationally, Chaplin noted in an interview with the AJC earlier this week that the band is nonetheless thrilled with the loyal fan base it has culled stateside.

Indeed, throughout much of Thursday’s close to sold-out show, Chaplin – tall, slender, but still baby-faced – and the rest of the band (Tim Rice-Oxley on piano/keys/guitar, Richard Hughes on drums and recent addition Jesse Quin on bass) frequently shared smiles and …

Continue reading Keane makes welcome return to Tabernacle »

John Convertino (left) and Joey Burns are the prime movers behind Calexico. The band plays the Buckhead Theatre Friday, Jan. 25. Photo courtesy Anti- Records

FRIDAY
Yo La Tengo, Calexico
Indie-pop darlings Yo La Tengo have had music critics scouring their thesauruses for superlatives since 1986’s debut album, “Ride the Tiger.” The New Jersey-spawned, Velvet Underground-inspired trio continues to record acclaimed albums, including the just-released “Fade,” their 13th. It finds them working with producer John McEntire of Tortoise. Calexico takes its name from a California border town that merges parts of the words California and Mexico. It’s an apt moniker for a band that has absorbed so many influences, blending rootsy Americana with brassy mariachi sounds, French chansons and other exotic flavors. The band’s latest album, “Algiers,” was recorded in New Orleans.
8 p.m. Jan. 25. $27; $24 in advance. Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-843-2825.

G. …

Continue reading Concerts: Yo La Tengo, Calexico, G. Love, Gary Allan »

Behold…the Biebs! Photo: Robb D. Cohen/ www.RobbsPhotos.com

It’s amusing – and a little sad – when you consider how Beyoncegate has incited so much finger pointing from the Transparency Police about her choice to sing the national anthem to a pre-recorded track (not lip-sync – there is a difference) at Monday’s presidential inauguration.

Those bothered by this incredibly common practice have branded her with a scarlet F (for fake). Yet we live in an era when that practice by our pop stars isn’t only accepted, but expected.

Justin Bieber is a prime example.

The kid is an engaging performer. A nifty dancer. Even a creamy-voiced crooner when he puts his mind to it.

But was he always singing without the aid of backing tracks at Wednesday’s just-about-sold-out Philips Arena concert?

Heck, no. How could he when a) his songs are so super-produced and layered in the studio that it would be impossible to re-create those vocals live, even with a band and backup singers and b) his …

Continue reading Justin Bieber: The prince of the pop machine brings spectacle to Philips »

The dashing fellows of Keane. Photos: Alex Lake

The last time Keane played Atlanta, there were only three members in the band, they were riding the success of their debut album, “Hopes and Fears” with the songs “Somewhere Only We Know” and “Everybody’s Changing,” and frontman Tom Chaplin was on the brink of entering rehab for drug abuse.

That was 2005, when the then-trio performed at Music Midtown and The Tabernacle.

Now, as they ready to return to The Tabernacle on Thursday (ticket info below), Keane is a quartet, they’re still touring behind last year’s excellent but mostly-ignored-in-the-U.S. “Strangeland” – their fourth album - and Chaplin is a content bloke, taking inspiration from Alice Cooper to swap golf for substance addictions.

“We’re quite a different outfit from then. We’ve become a well-oiled machine and know our craft a lot better. We feel we’re playing better than ever,” Chaplin said Wednesday morning, checking in before the band’s show that night at the Ryman …

Continue reading The evolution of Keane: ‘We’re quite a different outfit’ »

 Loading …

OK, everyone, relax.

So Beyonce sang to a track of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Monday’s inauguration.

Shrug.

Whitney Houston once did the same at the Super Bowl and her rendition of the same song remains one of its most iconic versions.

And let’s not forget, at the 2009 inauguration, famed celloist Yo-Yo Ma and other musicians pre-recorded their performances two days earlier and played along during the ceremony.

It’s January in D.C. It’s cold. Strings break. Instruments crack. Unrehearsed voices swerve off-key.

If you’re Beyonce and you’re invited to sing at the country’s most high-profile event, aren’t you going to prepare a safety net?

Oh say can you…sing? Photo: Getty Images

Ever attend an event with hundreds of thousands of people with makeshift speakers spread …

Continue reading So Beyonce didn’t sing live — so what? »

Country legend George Jones, shown here receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in February 2012, brings his farewell tour to the Fox Theatre in April. Tickets go on sale Friday, Jan. 25. Photo: Toby Canham/Getty Images

ON SALE NOW

Stevens Layne, Crane. 8:30 p.m. Feb. 8. Vinyl. $10; $8 in advance. TA.

Clap For Daylight, Number Exchange, Imagination Head. 9 p.m. Feb. 9. Vinyl. $10; $6 in advance. TA.

Courrier, Suite 709. 8 p.m. Feb. 12. Vinyl. $10; $6 in advance. TA.

ON SALE JAN. 24

Ben Deignan, J.Kap. 9 p.m. Feb. 2. Vinyl. $10; $8 in advance. TA.

ON SALE  JAN. 25

The Zombies. 8:30 p.m. March 9. Variety Playhouse. $27.50; $25 advance; $50 VIP with meet and greet after the show.

Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice. 7:30 p.m. March 14. Macon Centreplex. LN.

Little Green Cars. 8 p.m. March 17. Vinyl. TA.

A Day to Remember, Of Mice and Men. 7 p.m. March 20. The Tabernacle. $35; $30 in advance. LN.

Incognito, Avery Sunshine. 8 p.m. March 28-29. Center …

Continue reading Tickets: George Jones, the Zombies, Miranda Lambert, UK »

Do they still have the right stuff? Photo: ThePackage-Tour.com

Get ready, ladies. The guys in New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men are bringing you their package(s) this summer.

The three ’80s-‘90s hitmakers are joining together for “The Package Tour,” launching May 31 and running through July 13.

The tour has a date penciled in for Philips Arena on June 20 (amusingly, the day before the current princes of teen heartthrob mania – One Direction – play the venue).

Tickets go on sale Feb. 2 (an American Express pre-sale begins Jan. 25) via Ticketmaster.

The tour is also cause for a new release from NKOTB, who performed a sizzling sold-out show at Philips with the Backstreet Boys in June 2011. The group will release “10” on April 2; first single, with the head-scratching title “Remix (I Like The),” arrives Jan. 28 on iTunes.

This is the first tour for 98 Degrees in 12 years. Nick Lachey noted that while the guys will concentrate on the hits, they’ll use the tour to …

Continue reading New Kids on the Block team with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men for tour »