Rock Encyclopedia

Blizzard Entertainment announced that Foo Fighters will headline the closing concert of this year’s sold-out BlizzCon, taking place October 21-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

While tickets to the convention are currently sold out, viewers can watch at home by ordering a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, offering comprehensive live coverage of the event (including Foo Fighters’ performance) globally over the Internet and also on DIRECTVin the United States.

Over the course of their 16-year career, the Foo Fighters have sold tens of millions of records, won half a dozen Grammy awards, and raised countless voices in singalongs of iconic anthems like “Everlong,” “My Hero,” “Learn to Fly”, “All My Life,” “Best of You,” and “The Pretender.” Foo Fighters’ BlizzCon debut marks founder Dave Grohl’s triumphant return to the convention after playing drums for Tenacious D in last year’s show, and comes during an international arena, stadium, and festival tour promoting their seventh album, the international #1 record Wasting Light. (more…)

The Moody Blues will embark on their first cross-Canadian Fall tour in more than a decade, playing in 16 markets around the country.  The Canadian tour titled “Precious Cargo” will begin on September 15 in Halifax, NS and will continue through October 8 in Victoria, BC (see tour dates below).  The band will be touring in support of their new upcoming Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) greatest hits collection which will be released in two editions on July 19, as part of their highly successful Icon series.

The latest Icon series releases available on July 19 — Icon and Icon 2 — single disc and double disc formats — will include The Moody Blues’ legendary hits and fan favorites from their 14 studio albums that have spanned more than 35 years of groundbreaking music:  Days Of Future Passed (1967), In Search Of The Lost Chord (1968), On The Threshold Of A Dream (1969), To Our Children’s Children’s Children (1969), A Question of Balance (1970), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971), Seventh Sojourn (1972), Octave (1978), Long Distance Voyager (1981), The Present (1983), The Other Side Of Life (1986), Sur La Mer (1988), Keys Of The Kingdom (1991) and Strange Times (1999). The two-disc set will also include a bonus track from the band’s holiday December (2003) album. (more…)

The U2 360 tour made a triumphant return to North America with a sold out show at Invesco Stadium at Mile High in Denver, Colorado.

This U2 360 show first toured USA in fall 2009, playing 17 dates across the country culminating in the record breaking sold-out show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and streamed live worldwide via YouTube.

The North American tour was postponed last May after singer Bono injured his back, but the dates were quickly reinstated. Bono thanked the Denver audience for their patience, “Through the wonders of science I’m not just fixed, I’m better! Bono 2.0…”

“It took a little longer to get here than we originally planned, but it’s great to be back in North America. The band would like to thank all the fans who stood by them – it wasn’t taken for granted,’ said U2 manager Mr McGuinness.

In front of a 77,000 strong audience, tonight’s concert featured a video message from Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (recently released from house arrest in Rangoon) speaking directly to U2 fans who lobbied for her freedom throughout both the U2 360 and Vertigo tours.

Speaking before U2′s song “One,” Aung San Suu Kyi said, “You who, across such distances sent such support to Burma… we thank you, students, teachers, workers, mothers fathers, sisters, brothers, music fans – U2 fans like me. When you raise your voices we hear them in our country and around the world, they are louder than any rock band, than any army, than rocket fire or fighter jet…”

So far U2 360 has played to 5 million people across Europe, Russia, North America, South America, Australia and New Zealand. By the tour end on July 30, more than 7 million people will have seen this revolutionary production with 110 shows in 30 countries across five continents.

The tour, which started in Barcelona on June 30th, 2009 will visit an additional 18 cities across North America before finishing on July 30th in Moncton.