Travis Barker talks Blink-182's album release and more.

Earlier this week, Travis Barker, drummer of Blink-182, gave Blink-182 fans a little extra update to keep a smile on their face, if there was not enough lately anyways.

In an exclusive interview with MTV, Barker sat down to talk about his new album and upcoming tour and questions came up about Blink-182's album release date in the midst of the interview. Barker responded with, "...We'll turn in our album in June or July, honestly, and, I mean, the stuff's awesome," Barker said. "It's coming close, to the point where these are completed songs and they're not going to change. These are album versions."

Additionally, Barker posted on his Twitter account further clarifying the release date stating, "For those of you asking GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME is out March 15th and BLINK album is out THIS SUMMER!" Give The Drummer Some, of course, is Barker's new solo album he is releasing with many featured artists from Slash to Lil Wayne. He will be touring with Lil Wayne, Nikki Minaj from March 18-May 1 this spring.

On top of the Barker release, Tom Delonge, guitarist, just got off tour with his side band, Angels & Airwaves, and Mark Hoppus, bassist, has been releasing new lyrics and hosting his second television show on Fuse.tv (www.adifferentspin.com), "Hoppus on Music". There is a lot to be happy about in the Blink-182 world right now. Even with all of these new items, the band has even found time to add a few more dates to their summer European tour, which has been extended from June 18-July 19.

Let us hope the boys find time to finish their last few tracks and finish their album before they head off to Europe, the follow up from their self-titled album has been in the making for far too long.

Guitar Hero franchise is finished

Gamers, take your time to mourn, as it is a sad day in video game history. Prep up on those air guitar skills because that is all of what you will be getting soon enough.

On Wednesday, the video game producers, Activision, have announced that the Guitar Hero franchise is to be discontinued. Instead of producing more Guitar Hero games, the makers will concentrate on producing the Call Of Duty franchise. Mainly due to the large success and surge of Rock Band, Guitar Hero has experienced severe drops in sales and continuing poor results compared to the Rock Band franchise.

In a statement released by the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick: “Blizzard significantly evolved its direct digital distribution capabilities with the launch of its new Battle.net® service and saw players embrace its service offerings in record numbers,” Kotick continued. “Notably, since Call of Duty: Black Ops was launched in November players have spent an average of 52 minutes per day playing online, roughly equivalent to the 55 minutes that the average user spends each day on Facebook. As of February 2, 2011, more than 27 million gamers have played Call of Duty games online, logging more than 2 billion hours, or the equivalent of more than 229,000 years of gameplay.” Kotick concludes, “Online gaming continues to broaden its appeal. Our shareholders continue to be well positioned to benefit from these trends and the focus of our incredibly talented employees around the world continues to allow us to lead our industry. We expect to continue to drive long-term growth, increase our return on invested capital and generate strong cash flow as we have over the last few years. Our strong balance sheet affords us the financial flexibility to invest in games that few companies have the ability to create and allows us to provide our shareholders with value through dividends and share repurchases.”

Guitar Hero has launched six versions and a few band focused versions of the game since its debut in 2005. The company also rumors it may also discontinue the ever popular DJ Hero franchise which has produced two games since its debut in 2009. Hop on board the Rock Band bandwagon, and let "I Love Rock and Roll" remain a fond memory in our hearts.

 R.I.P. Guitar Hero (2005-2011)

Plain White T’s Concert Review

Last night I was able to attend The Wonder of The Younger  tour featuring MIGGS, Parachute, and the headliner, Plain White T’s at the House of Blues in San Diego, California.

Unfortunately, I missed the majority of MIGGS performance as I was doing an interview with Plain White T’s at the time, but from what I saw of their last song, I would give thumbs up.

Next on was Parachute. Never have I had so much fun with a band I have never heard before. Aside from the excellent vocals from the lead singer, they looked like they had so much fun on stage which translated to the crowd giving equal enthusiasm. I loved how they gave their set a jazz like feel with keyboard solos and saxophone through some of their songs, which felt like they were having a jam session up on stage. Very well done, don’t miss these guys.

Plain White T’s did not disappoint. For my first time seeing these guys I was very impressed by their show. They set up a circus/carnival like background to replicate what is the front cover of their latest album “Wonders of the Younger”. In their 75 minute set, the band were able to mix in songs from several of their albums including “Radios In Heaven” which came off their 2002 album, Stop. I never realized how much of their inspiration came from past girlfriends, because it felt like most songs written, as they explained, from past loves of their life. Good news for us though, as it translated into many great songs.

What appeared to be the last song, the band walked off stage after finishing “Last Breath”.  A few minutes later, lead singer Tom Higgenson rose from the crowd onto a platform in the middle of the audience to perform “Hey There Delilah” and returned onstage to play “Hate” and lead title “Wonders of the Younger” from their December release.

Overall, awesome time and well recommended for a fun night and a great concert. Don’t miss this tour.

Interview will be posted later this weekend.

Plain White T’s Setlist:

1. Irrational Anthem
2. Boomerang
3. Our Time Now
4. Big Bad World  
5. Welcome to the Mystery
6. Rhythm of Love
7. Revenge
8. Breakdown
9. Radios in Heaven
10. Broken Record
11. Our Song
12. Sunlight
13. 1234
14. Circue Dans La Rue
15. Last Breath
16. Hey There Delilah (Tom Solo on B Stage)
17. Hate (I Really Don't Like You)
18. Wonders of the Younger

Vans Warped Tour band additions- 2/9/11

Vans Warped Tour has added 6 more bands to the line-up this week:

Big B
Moving Mountains
New Years Day
Passafier
Places and Numbers
A Skylit Drive

Head on over to www.vanswarpedtour.com/bands to see the complete list of bands and to find a a venue near you.

The Wonder Years finish new album

After a year of going through the writing process and two months of studio recordings and updates, the The Wonder Years have announced today they have finished their album. This album will be the third full-length released by the band and the first album released on their new label, Hopeless Records, which they joined late last year.

The information on the new album was released Wednesday from a Twitter post by lead singer, Dan “Soupy” Campbell’s account (@headabovewater), saying: “My voice is totally gone. We have to be at the airport to go to Kerrang tour in five hours but I think we just finished a record.” This news couldn’t come at a better time as they finished the recording in time for their European Kerrang Tour with Good Charlotte and Four Year Strong.

The band has posted this record will be split into 13 parts which are supposed to be 13 pieces to a chronological journey that has taken place from November 2009 to November 2010. The record, according to Campbell, does not stray far musically from their sophomore album, The Upsides.  In January 2010, The Upsides landed at #5 on Billboard Alternative album chart.
As The Upsides was an upbeat and positive album, Campbell claims,“Lyrically, I think at first people will be a little confused, because it’s not as overwhelmingly positive. Upsides was a record dealing with depression and social anxiety and seasonal affective disorder, and so it was kind of a record about beating that sadness. Whereas this is a record where all of the parts that seem negative, I think, are outside of me. I’m talking about negative things, but it’s not in my own head anymore—it’s problems I’m seeing with the world.”

The band has not released a working title or a release date yet. European fans can catch them on tour from Feb. 4 - Feb. 18, or American fans can catch them this summer as they make the full trek on the Vans Warped Tour.

Check out an interview with Soupy from last years tour with Four Year Strong HERE
To see this article on http://www.livemusicguide.com/ click HERE

Spearks The Rescue announces new tour with The Dangerous Summer

Sparks the Rescue (Fearless Records) has announced it will join The Dangerous Summer on the "2011 America Tour". This trek across America will begin March 15th in New York and will continue on until the end of April.

In support will be The Graduate and The Scenic

Tour dates listed below:

3.15 - New York, NY @ The Studio At Webster Hall

3.16 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft At The Chance 

3.17 - Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock

3.19 - South Hackensack, NJ @ School of Rock

3.20 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary

3.22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose

3.23 - Akron, OH @ Musica

3.24 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Mxtp

3.26 - Des Moines, IA @ The Vaudeville Mews 

3.27 - Madison,WI @ The Loft

3.29 - St Paul, MN @ Station 4  

3.30 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Latitude 44

3.31 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground

4.02 - Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre 

4.06 - Bend, OR @ Poet House

4.07 - Walnut Creek, CA @ Red House

4.08 - Bakersfield, CA @ Jerry's Pizza

4.17 - Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory

4.19 - Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music 

4.20 - Nashville, TN @ The End

4.25 - West Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern

4.28 - Harrisonburg, VA @ The Blue Nile

Full dates released for "Spring Break Your Heart Tour"

Yesterday, Forever the Sickest Kids and Breathe Carolina announced a tour with This Century, We Are The In Crowd and Before Their Eyes. Today, the full list of official dates have been released:

3.30 - Tucson, AZ @ The Rock

3.31 - El Paso, TX @ Club 101

4.1 - Austin, TX @ Emo's

4.2 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit

4.3 - Houston, TX @ Numbers

4.6 - Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee

4.7 - Chickasha, OK @ University of Science & Arts

4.8 - Lubbock, TX @ Tequila Nights

4.9 - Dallas, TX @ The Door

4.10 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues

4.12 - Ft Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

4.13 - Orlando, FL @ House Of Blues

4.14 - Jacksonville Beach, FL @ Freebird Live

4.15 - Nashville, TN @ Rocketown

4.16 - Covington, KY @ The Mad Hatter

4.17 - Toledo, OH @ Headliners

4.19 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel

4.20 - Buffalo, NY @ Xtreme Wheelz

4.21 - Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizon

4.22 - Providence, RI @ The Met Cafe

4.23 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place

4.26 - Towson, MD @ The Recher Theatre

4.27 - Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club
4.28 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon

Seven new bands join Warped Tour

Same story every Wednesday, new bands join Warped Tour.

In this weeks additions, seven new bands join the lineup. Bands include:

The Arcadia Strain, Middle Class Rut, Peelanderz, Relient K, River City Expansion, Stephen Jerzak, and There For Tomorrow.

Head over to www.warpedtour.com/bands to check out the rest and also to find a stop near you!

The White Stripes have broken up

Today, a message from the band has posted that they will no longer continue to make music.

Travis Barker releases pre-sale tickets for U.S. & Canada Tour

Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, has released pre-sale tickets for his upcoming U.S. & Canada with Nikki Minaj, Lil' Wayne, and Rick Ross.

With your ticket purchase, you will get to pre-order Travis' new album 'Give the Drummer Some,' which drops March 15th and also receive instant downloads of Barkers' brand new single 'Can A Drummer Get Some (ft. Lil Wayne, Game, Rick Ross & Swizz Beatz)'; 'Carry It' & 'Jump Down.'

Tour Dates:
03-18    Buffalo, NY - On sale Thursday

03-19    Columbus, OH - Pre-sale coming soon

03-20    Baltimore, MD - On sale now

03-23    Hampton, Virginia - On sale now

03-24    Cleveland, OH - On sale Thursday

03-26    Philadelphia, PA - On sale Thursday

03-27    Long Island, NY - On sale now

03-30    University Park, PA - On sale now

04-01    Chicago, IL - Pre-sale coming soon

04-02    Auburn Hills, MI - Pre-sale coming soon

04-03    Washington, DC - Pre-sale coming soon

04-06    Sunrise, Florida - Pre-sale coming soon

04-08    Greensboro, NC - Pre-sale coming soon

04-09    Atlanta, GA - Pre-sale coming soon

04-10    St. Louis, MO - Pre-sale coming soon

04-14    New Orleans, LA - On sale now

04-15    Dallas, Texas - Pre-sale coming soon

04-16    Houston, TX - Pre-sale coming soon

04-19    Phoenix, AZ - Pre-sale coming soon

04-21    Los Angeles, CA - Pre-sale coming soon

04-23    Anaheim, CA - Pre-sale coming soon

04-24    Oakland, CA - Pre-sale coming soon

04-26    Sacramento, CA - Pre-sale coming soon

04-28    Edmonton, Canada - Pre-sale coming soon

04-29    Vancouver, BC - Pre-sale coming soon

 

For more details, visit http://www.travisbarker.com/

Never Shout Never to give away free EP

Christofer Drew and his band Never Shout Never will be giving away a free three-song digital EP. Anyone who purchases any item from the band's store in February will receive The Love (Live) EP. This EP features unreleased live versions of "Love Is Our Weapon," "I Love You 5" and "I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know."

Check out the store HERE
The EP will be delivered beginning Feb. 14.

Set Your Goals finishes album

It appears as Set Your Goals has finished their latest album. On their Twitter page, the band posted

"That's a wrap. The record is done and we can't wait for you guys to hear it. We are very excited on the new jams. Time to Gig."

You can catch the band on tour starting in San Diego from February 11-March 2 and this summer on the Vans Warped Tour.

The Spring Break Your Heart Tour is announced

Today, from the Breathe Carolina facebook page, the band announced:

"We just announced a new tour with Forever The Sickest Kids, This Century (on select dates), and We Are The In Crowd (on select dates). Check out our page for full dates and more information!"

So far, only five days have been announced, but a possibility for more to come. Head on over to Breathe Carolina's Myspace page to find a date near you.

Blink-182 fans...Boomer Is Back!

In a Fuse.TV blog posted today, Tom Delonge has posted that Boomer (his alias, check First Date music video) is back and getting ready for Blink-182's tour this summer.

Not sure what will come out of this, but it is fun to see the fun side of Delonge is still present, even if it is just a promotional video for his shoe company, Macbeth

Check out the video of Boomer HERE